My Immortal
by TheHibernatingRuby
Summary: Thea Vega's boyfriend Aaron commited suicide a year ago and she refuses to move on because she thinks it's her fault. But will a new guy make her forget her pain? What will happen after she finally says yes to him? Sorta based on the song by Evanescence.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

She was in so much pain. Because of him. He had hoped that he would be the one to change that but now he was sitting in a tree, watching them together. The thought alone of another man holding her infuriated him. He tried his best not to cry out in anger.

"I'm so sorry, Thea," he murmured. "I'm sorry I left you."

He could see Thea through the window with that guy, William. He was holding her while she cried, whispering words of comfort in her ear. She looked up at him and smiled ruefully as William wiped her tears away with his thumb. Then he cupped her face in his hands. Thea automatically leaned into his hand and sighed quietly.

He watched William kiss Thea goodbye. He squeezed the tree branch he was holding and heard a muffled snap. He didn't let go so William or Thea wouldn't hear.

"I'll be back soon. Your mom's about to come up."

"Bye, William." Thea hugged him. "Thanks."

How could he love her and leave her so broken? He'd never expected this. Maybe it would have been the guy at the soup kitchen—what was his name? Damon, that was it—he seemed like he would make Thea break her promise to wait for him.

When William drove away, he finally let go of the branch and it fell to the ground with a soft thud.

Thea's head shot up and she looked right at him. She let out a blood-curdling scream and he climbed in through the window. He held her close and they both sighed. He had dreamed of doing for so long and he could finally do it again.

He kissed her. Letting the heat, swirl around them. The smell of her blood engulfed him until it drove him insane. But he didn't care. He was so happy to have Thea in his arms again. She looked up at him with more tears in her eyes. He kissed her until they were breathing heavily and she gasped out his name.

"I thought you were dead," Thea sobbed. He stroked her hair softly.

"I'm here now." He knew that if would have said that any other day, she would have laughed and playfully swatted his arm. The thought made him smile a little. "I'm here forever." He kissed her neck softly. He was thirsty but she already had bite marks on her neck. He shook his head. He should have known.

William was a vampire too.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Thea**

"_Will you think that you're all alone_

_When no one's there to hold your hand?_

_When all you know seems so far away_

_And everything is temporary, rest your head._

_I'm permanent."_

Thea stared down at her Calculus textbook, seeing nothing and trying her best to feel nothing. She let another tear slip down the side of her face and sighed quietly, wiping at it with the back of her hand. It was raining.

That was bad.

Usually she would have tried to escape it all and go out for a jog until she made to the park. Until her lungs were burning and her legs collapsed under her but today the only way to deal with this pain was to listen to a sad song on her iPod which was what she was about to do in a minute. After the words on the page stopped blurring. Maybe she should be wearing her glasses instead of her contacts. Her eyes were starting to burn.

"Thea!" her mom called. "Why are you singing?"

Thea shook her head even though her mom couldn't see her through the locked door. She should know that it was part of those stupid exercises that the shrink made her do. She hated the exercises and she was really starting to hate that song.

Her mom tried again. "Dinner's ready." Thea turned toward the door and decided to stare at that instead.

"Oh, David Cook!" she muttered. "I can't remember the rest of that song." She went to grab her iPod so she could listen and sing along while ignoring her mother. It was a bonus.

"It's meatloaf. Your favorite." _Damn, that woman is persistent. _Thea groaned and ran a hand through her hair. It got stuck in the frizz halfway.

_Leave me alone! _"Not hungry, _Mamí,_" she said as she got up off her bed and unlocked the door. Her mom's fist was in the air, like she was going to knock on the door. Thea laughed quietly.

"Thea…" she said. Thea groaned again. She knew that tone. It was the tone her mother used whenever she brought up the therapist.

"Honest, ma. I'm not hungry." Thea had textbooks spread out all over her floor to make it look like she was studying. And she was. Before she got distracted. By the textbook. If you looked closely, you could see big wet spots in the pages and splotchy ink in her Bio notes. Her mom looked at her skeptically.

"Thea, it's been a year—" Thea shook her head.

"Ten months," she mumbled. "He died a month after he graduated." She ignored her daughter and kept on speaking.

"Aaron…" A wave of pain coursed through Thea. Swift and sharp but her mom probably didn't notice. She was good at hiding these things from her mother now—but that damn shrink! He was like a freaking mind reader or something! "It been a ye—_ten months_ since he…did what he did and you've been acting fine. Around us."

"Define acting," Thea said. Of course she knew exactly what her mother meant. Thea had been lying so much in the past 7 months (when everyone except for her got over Aaron's death) that she was even starting to convince herself that she was fine. Almost.

"Your grades are great and you still see your friends"—Thea snorted. Six friends to be exact—"you still plan on trying out for the track team. Plus you've been babysitting Opal an extra night during the week and you were accepted into Harvard and UCLA."

"Then what's the problem, Mom?" She tugged at the hair elastic on her wrist.

"You still seem upset but you aren't talking to us or Theodore about it. He has to watch your every move during the sessions. Then only time you really smile is when you're with Brick or with one of your friends." She looked at her daughter disapprovingly while Thea tried not to be shocked that her mom was actually confronting her. No beating around the bush this time.

"That is ridiculous," Thea stated. She hated that her shrink and her mom were on a first name basis. It was awkward to walk downstairs one day and see him on the couch with her stepdad, watching a game and shouting. It made her want to scream at them to go away but instead she'd hide away in her room. "He's probably wrong. About everything."

"We used to be so close. Now you keep putting up walls."

"Because you keep asking me so many freakin' questions!" Thea yelled. She took a few deep breaths and tried to calm down. At least ol' Teddy had taught her something useful. Soon he was probably going to make her start counting from one to ten again because Thea's temper seemed to be getting worse.

"Thea, it's not your fault that Aaron—" Thea stood up and threw her hands in the air.

"It _is_ my fault! Why doesn't anyone understand that?" She hung her head. "I was his girlfriend. I could have helped him. Talked to him. He told me once but I didn't take him seriously. It was all me."

"_Thea, _It isn't your fault. He was a happy guy. Nobody really expected it._" _Then she finally gave up and tried to change the subject, she looked down at her daughter's shorts. "Why are you wearing shorts in March? It's freezing." Thea smiled sadly; glad to stop talking about it.

"It's hot!" she protested. Thea looked down at her long legs, tanner from jogging around the park in the sun. The only things covering them were her gray and yellow butterfly Paramore shorts. She sighed when her mother arched an eyebrow. "Fine, fine, Ma. I'll change. Then I'm coming down for dinner."

"Good." Her mother smiled at her victory and left, without another word about Thea's shrink or the stupid shorts.

**So yeah, hii! I'm the author (as you all know) and I'm aware that some people don't like my cliffhanger. *wink wink* LOL so yeah...I know, sorry! I hope you thought this one was sufficient enough and didn't leave you hanging. I know...very uneventful and I'm sorry. **

**-Ruby**

**PS: This is "Permanent" by David Cook. I own the story but not the song...**


	3. Note: Warning! May contain spoilers

**Warning! THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS!**

**Hey everyone! I heard that some of you guys seemed confused by my story. (Including me once I read it while pretending I know nothing about the story. Lol!) So here's a little synopsis (my Language Arts/Literature teacher's _FAVORITE_ word for summary. Hee hee. I'm learning. Thanks Mr. R!) In the prologue/preface it's Aaron's point of view. Thea's should-be-dead-ex-boyfriend. He's watching Thea and William (to be introduced in the next chapter) while William is comforting her. Thea's crying because she feels guilty that Aaron is "dead" and she's going around kissing another guy as if she forgot about him already. **

**In the first chapter, Thea is sitting was doing her homework but then she gets sad when they play one of Aaron's favorite songs on the radio. Then she started to sing. One of the excercises Theodore, her therapist, makes her do. She feels guitly that Aaron commited suicide (did I forget to mention) after a party that they went to together. She starts to have an arguement with her mother but then her mother, sensing that Thea didn't want to talk about it anymore changes to subject to something more...normal. Thea's shorts then her mother leaves and Thea changes her shorts. (Paramore shorts from Hot Topic , I might add. Lol I wanted a pair. They're the yellow butterfly shorts.) So that's pretty much it. (I know, very uneventful. Sorry.)**

**I'll post the next chapter soon. I wrote it in a notebook during a free period but I didn't type it up yet. OMG we just had an assembly about internet safety and I'm a little freaked out...okay, A LOT freaked out. They showed this video of the cops luring an cyber predator to a location to catch them and put them in jail. It was way scary! And they had a picture of some dude who's name was soccerpro13. He was all dirty and...ugh. *shivers***

**-Ruby Lucero**

**PS. Aaron really isn't dead...he's a supernatural person-creature-thing...Not so sure _what _yet. Maybe a lycan (werewolf) or a ghost or a vampire...We'll see.**


	4. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**William**

_Why does this have to be so damn difficult?_ William groaned in frustration. He was standing outside the window of the girl that he'd been watching for the past 4 months now.

Althea Vega.

He felt disgusted by himself because he doing this but he just couldn't help himself. The sound of her breathing, her laugh, like a rare flower only to be bloom once every year, was forever going to be his soundtrack. Even when he wasn't with her, it was all he could hear. It was what his drab existence was about now.

But now there was a small hole in his monotonous routine because could smell her blood more than usual. She went to bed after she finished watching _Dracula_, and as usual, looked very strained. It was midnight now and he wasn't allowing himself the luxury of breathing.

William knew that if he did, he wouldn't be able to control himself. The moon shone on her sleeping form. He was so thirsty and she smelled so…_tempting_. He knew he should have fed before he came here. He looked up at Thea's window.

_One little drink wouldn't hurt her,_ he thought. _She might even enjoy it… _He climbed up the side of the house quickly and quietly opened her window. When he was inside, he shut it slowly so it wouldn't make any noise. Thea moaned in her sleep and it made his throat burn more than ever.

"Mmm…" he whispered. Thea rolled over, revealing her neck. Dark and beckoning him closer to her. Oh, how he yearned to sink his fangs into her soft throat and drink her fragrant blood…

William stared at the floor while he took a step closer to her bed…

_No damn it! I cannot! _William's hands were clenched into fists as he watched her.

She was asleep, peaceful for these short hours of the night. He couldn't take advantage of her like that. It wasn't as if she was only good for a meal. He wasn't some lonely old man who used women for a good time and a snack. William shook his head and went through Thea's bookshelf to distract himself.

Of course. The first movies he saw were the three Twilight saga movies and _Dracula_ on the top shelf. The books were on the shelves below. _Dracula_…the Twilight saga…_The Vampire Diaries_…all of these books reminded him of his need to drink. He really should have fed last night while he had the chance. It was days like this that he found her old vampire fixation frustrating. He was thirsty and this wasn't helping at all.

He took a step closer to Thea's bed and moved her hair to the other side of her neck. _It won't hurt her, _he chanted._ It won't hurt her._

He gazed at her peaceful face, pink lips parted, hungrily and felt his fangs slide down his gums with a slick _shhip_ sound, poking his lip. They were sharp enough to pierce Thea's velvety skin. He couldn't resist her. Her blood. He put a hand under her head and lifted her up gently. There was a moment of hesitation as if at anytime, he would suddenly drop her and flee or she might wake up but when he knew that neither was going to happen, he pressed his lips to her throat. She sighed quietly and he breathed in, moaning when he found her pulse. He opened his mouth wider and let his fangs pierce her throat.

William drank hungrily. The warm blood ran down his tongue, the taste filling his mouth. They both let out a moan and he drank slower so she wouldn't be weak tomorrow morning on his first day of school. When he finally had enough, he slid his fangs out smoothly and wiped his mouth.

He reminded himself that she wouldn't notice. All that would be left of that night were two small scars. He lay her down tenderly and licked his lips. Then he moved her hair away from her face and he kissed her forehead.

Amazing. As he always thought she would taste. He grimaced, disgusted with himself and sat down by Thea's bed to spend the rest of the night with her as he always did.

**Thea**

"Mmmm…so tired," Thea sighed. She stretched and got out of bed slowly. Maybe she could pretend to be sick like the kids she saw on Opal's cartoons. Then she'd miss today's Calculus test…but she could stay home watch old movies all day.

Thea groaned and walked to the mirror in her bathroom. She turned her head and moved her hair to the side. There were two tiny star-shaped scars on her neck. They were a soft pink and right next to each other. Where did they come from? She poked them. Shouldn't they hurt or be itchy?

And that _dream_… Who was that guy?

The guy-no the man with the black hair and brooding blue eyes. Eyes that held secrets and challenged her to try to figure them out. He held her so gently yet so protectively. It was like he'd done it thousands of times before. The dream seemed so _real_. After he kissed her, he moved his lips to her throat and bit down…and the dream ended after Thea started feeling this intense sense of happiness. She moaned in pleasure and he slowly showed her his fangs, making the feeling linger.

Thea laughed at herself. No more _Dracula_ before bed. If she looked back at her neck, the scars would probably be gone. A figment of her imagination. She took a shower quickly and threw on a purple v-neck t-shirt and dark denim skirt.

Someone knocked on her door. It was soft and hesitant then they knocked again, louder and more demanding. Thea sighed and opened the door.

Her mom stood in front of her in her sweats and a t-shirt. "Oh good. You're up." She smiled a little.

Thea nodded and put on her worn-out black Chuck Taylors. "Yeah. Of course I am. I need a lot more time to study for my Calculus test…" And she "needed" to study the hot new guy who was coming to school today… Thea smirked. Her friends were still trying to get her a boyfriend. It would have been kinda funny if the reason people thought she needed a boyfriend wasn't so depressing...

"Okay, Thea."

"So I've gotta get going to pick up Hazel." Thea smiled at her mom while her mom crossed her arms in protest. "The lady doth protest too much, methinks…" Her mom rolled her eyes. "Bye, Mom!" Thea hugged her mother goodbye and ran out of her room with her keys in hand. She snatched her messenger bag from the hook and ran out the door.

The sun shone brightly on Thea's face and she stood there for a second with her face tilted up, taking in some rays before she was stuck in that prison they called a school. Then she opened the car door and slid in. She started the car.

"Oh the sputters of an old Volkswagen bug," she murmured. She backed out of the driveway and drove to Hazel's house. It was early but Thea knew that Hazel wouldn't mind that much. Especially since Thea drove her to school every day since Thea first got her license.

When Thea got to Hazel's house she got out and knocked on the door.

"Hey, Hazel!" she called. It would have been rude for anyone else to do that in her house but she'd probably been there so many times that it was like she was at her own house. Hazel usually did the same thing whenever she came over.

"It's open!" Hazel called back. She walked to the door and met her there. "Hey, Thea. Come on in." Her child-like face broke into a grin. Thea walked into the house and followed Hazel into her room.

"Hurry up, Haze! We gotta get to school! I need to study for my stupid Calculus test!" Thea whined. Hazel looked up at her and nodded. Thea started twirling her car keys around her index finger then she put them in her pocket.

"Fine. One sec. I need to put on my shoes." Hazel put on a pair of gray high tops with different colored zippers decorating the sides. She was wearing her black v-neck Hollywood Undead shirt with her black skinny jeans. It was funny how Thea wasn't wearing matching socks (they were purple and blue) and Hazel was wearing matching black socks. She snickered.

"Hurry _up_!" Thea bent down and tied Hazel's shoes for her quickly.

"You haven't done that since middle school," Hazel teased. She grabbed her rainbow-checkered backpack and went outside. "Bye! I'm going to scho-ol!" Thea took her keys out of her pocket and went downstairs to her car with Hazel. Once they got settled in, Thea started the car and drove down to her school.

She found an empty parking spot but there was a group of girls standing in the middle of the white lines, pointing to a shiny blood-red Mustang convertible with a guy coming out of it. Thea honked her horn dramatically, her toe inching towards the gas.

"Ugh! Can you people _move_?" Thea groaned. The girls squealed and moved out of the way. Thea rolled her eyes and pulled into the parking space.

"You're _so_ nice," Hazel teased. Thea winked at her and stepped out of the car. After she threw her bag over her shoulder, she turned to where the girls were pointing, where a guy was leaning against the car.

A guy with black hair and sexy blue eyes, eyes that held secrets and challenged her to try to figure them out. He looked over at her and winked. Like he knew exactly what she dreamt about last night.

Thea gasped and ran into the school, before she could process anything, her messenger bag slapping her hip.

"Thea?" Hazel called. "Thea! Come back!"


	5. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Thea**

"_Thea?" Hazel called. "Thea! Come back!"_

Thea ignored her friend and kept running towards the school. Once she was inside she stopped running and put her bag down by her locker and sank down against the wall, putting her head between her knees. Some kids from the AV Club stared at her while they were at their lockers. Thea wasn't supposed to be in the school yet but she didn't care. She didn't acknowledge their staring expect by rolling her eyes.

_Yeah, yeah. I know I was running into the school like a maniac. Geez! Mind your own business. _Thea closed her eyes. She heard quiet footsteps and someone tapped her on the knee. A bolt of energy went through her. Thea flinched. It didn't hurt, in fact it sort of felt…good. It just caught her off-guard.

"Excuse me, Thea?" She heard an annoyingly familiar deep voice ask. Thea looked up to see the new guy kneeling in front of her, looking at her with concerned blue eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Uh...uh… Yeah. I'm fine." She brushed her hair away from her eyes. "How do you…?"

New guy smiled at her. "Your friend." He looked back at the door she ran through.

"Of course. Yeah. Thanks." _Oh, crap! I'm sitting here on the ground with my knees close to my chest! He can probably see my underwear! Oh man! No wonder he's staring at me! Crapcrapcrap! _Thea jumped up and stood with her knees closed and her feet slightly apart. William was startled so he stood up too. "Well, thank you for being so concerned - I'm sorry. What's your name?"

"William. William Thorne." He stuck out his hand and Thea grabbed it. They shook hands but when they stopped, William wouldn't let go of her hand. When he finally did Thea bit her lip and smiled up at him awkwardly.

"Nice to meet ya, William. Thanks for coming to see how I was. It was real nice of you… Well, I have to go make sure Hazel—the girl you heard yelling my name before—doesn't get all worried. I'll see ya around." Thea picked up her bag and walked to her friend's locker.

It looked like she pretty much forgot about that though because she was too busy with her boyfriend Kyo. Thea rolled her eyes but _of course_ Hazel couldn't see her. All you could see was the back of Hazel's shirt and Kyo's arm around her waist and his hand in her light brown curls.

"No, I'm fine," Thea mumbled. "Thanks, Hazel." She pouted and went back into the school.

xXxXx

Thea sat down at the back of the Spanish room, wondering why she didn't sign up for French or Italian sooner. She could be with Hazel and Katt learning Japanese but even that class filled up pretty quickly or she could have been with Brianna and Rosa learning Italian. Who knew that signing up for that was more important than a _Nikita _marathon on _the CW_?

The good thing was that she didn't have to pay attention in class. The teacher knew her mom and everyone already knew that she spoke Spanish fluently so she had an extra free period. Thea tutored people sometimes too like she used to tutor Aaron. A lump rose in her throat.

Today, she didn't have to do homework before she baby-sit Opal so she decided to read something. She pulled a book out of her bag.

"Oh my gosh! Did you _see_ that new guy? His name is William Thorne. He is _so_ hot." Thea snorted and the two girls talking about him glared at her. She arched an eyebrow at them and they turned around, whispering quietly.

Ah, William Thorne.

He'd only been there for 4 periods and the whole school was already talking about him. Usually around of this time of year, the kids would have been talking about the different sports tryouts but everyone was talking about William Thorne. Even the guys who complaining about the fact that their girlfriends weren't even paying attention to them because of the "stupid pretty boy."

With his sexy blue eyes, the same shade of sapphire blue as the bedspead in Thea's room, and broad shoulders and his smile...any girl would swoon when she saw him in the hall, hoping that he would catch her. Now that Thea thought about it more, William didn't really seem like the catching type…but then again neither did Aaron when she first went out with him. Not that she thought that she would be going out with William any time soon.

Thea blushed and looked down at her dark red nails and started reading the book.

"Thea?" Thea opened her eyes wide and kept staring at the page she was on. She knew that voice. Ugh. "Do you mind if I sit here?" William asked. Thea looked up at him and put her finger in the book to mark her page.

_Why, yes. Yes, I do. You should go and sit by your catty, overly enthusiastic fan club. _"Nope. It's fine." Thea smiled politely and went back to reading her book. She heard the chair scrape against the floor. Thea looked at him from the corner of her eye as he sat down. Hmm... She could totally see why the girls liked him so much.

Sharp, rugged features, tall, handsome. Plus he looked pretty buff under that t-shirt. Most girls were suckers for blue eyes...

"Ugh. He's sitting next to _Thea Vega_," Taylor muttered, sneering Thea's name. Almost making it sound like a curse. Taylor twirled a lock of her blonde hair around one perfectly manicured finger and looked back at Thea, reading her book and William, watching Thea out of the corner of his eye.

"Does she have to steal all the good guys?" Connie asked her. "I mean first Aaron, now William?" Thea tried not to groan. She wasn't "after" William. She only met the guy _two hours_ ago. The school gossips were at it again.

"Is she gonna make _him_ kill himself, too?" Taylor asked. William looked up and glared at the girls with a cold fury. They inched away from him slowly.

Thea's eyes widened and she stood up before she got sent to the principal's office for opening her mouth. "Excuse me, Mrs. Soto. I don't feel so good." It wasn't a complete lie. She felt like she was going to be sick.

_Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry. Not 'til you're outside._

"Thea?" Mrs. Soto asked. "What's wrong?" Thea ignored her and threw her book in her bag and threw it over her shoulder, cursing in Spanish and English under her breath. She didn't look up until she got into the girl's bathroom. Then she sank down on the cold bathroom floor, putting her head between her knees and tried to ignore the fact that she was wearing a skirt.

"Who cares what they think?" Thea muttered to herself. "I sure as hell don't." She laughed quietly. Aaron wouldn't have wanted her to. Neither would Katt, Hazel or Brianna. She sighed and slipped out to her locker. She opened it and found a pair of black soccer shorts that she wore for P.E., an improvement from her denim oh-my-God-it's-not-_that_-short-Jacob mini skirt.

She changed in the bathroom and tossed her skirt back into her locker. She lingered there for a moment, looking at the old pictures of her and her friends. Thea with her short curly hair, sticking her tongue out at the camera next to Brianna while Hazel with her arm around Katt, tanner from going to the beach every day that week, made a peace sign and Katt just smiled at the camera with her fist in the air. That was when they all went to the beach together freshman year. Thea smiled wistfully. She closed her locker and turned around.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw that someone was standing behind her.

"Holy cow, William! You scared the crap outta me!" She looked around to see if anyone else was there. Nope, just the two of them. "What are you doing here?" Thea paused for a moment and cursed in Spanish again. "Am I getting detention?"

William laughed. "No. You're not getting detention. Especially after Mrs. Soto made those girls tell her what they said." William frowned. "They're talking to the principal right now."

"Look, William. I'm sorry they sent you out here to check on me on your first day here. It must really suck." _Especially since you have to check on the ex of a guy who committed suicide._

"I actually came out here on my own..." William objected with a small smile. "To see how you were doing. Are you okay?" He looked at her skeptically.

"I'm doing just _peachy_," Thea snapped. She was sick of people asking her how she was doing. They never did that before Aaron committed suicide. She was the trooper. Now she was the girl that everyone pitied and she really didn't need that right now. All Thea wanted to do was graduate and go to California, maybe start having people call her by her middle name. Anything to forget.

"No, you're not," William whispered. He brushed his fingers across her cheekbone. When she noticed that they were wet, she looked down, covering her face with her hair. She was embarrassed that she'd been crying without knowing it.

"Well, I, uh, yeah...Thanks for caring but I'm fine now. I think I can go back inside now. I only wasted, like, ten minutes out here." Thea felt her face heat up.

"Well, come on, then." William bent down to pick up her messenger bag. Thea picked it up quickly and threw it over her shoulder.

"You go ahead. I'll go in a second." He nodded solemnly and walked ahead of Thea. She paused at her locker for moment then she turned around watched him walk away.

_Stupid, William. Why do you have to be so damn cute and concerned? Grrr. _Thea glared at her hands balled up into tan fists and ran after him.

Thea reached up to tap William on shoulder. He stopped and looked down at her. "You need something?" he asked quietly.

"I'm sorry for snapping at your earlier. It was just, well, you obviously heard what those girls were saying, and it's kind of a touchy subject for me and that last comment about you... It was out of line. I'm really sorry." Thea paused and muttered, _"__And I know you probably think I'm pathetic anyway."_

"I don't think you're pathetic," William said quietly. He reached out to take her hand but Thea kept her hands at her sides, still balled up into fists. "I think you've been thrown into a situation that you don't know how to handle on your own."


	6. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Thea's POV in 3****rd**** Person**

"He what?" Katt asked, her voice getting louder. Thea rolled her eyes and looked around. Connie and Taylor glared her and the back of Katt's head. What a coincidence it was that they were all at the same pizza place for lunch. Thea smiled and stuck her tongue out at them.

"Really mature," Katt muttered.

"You know you love me." Thea winked then she got serious again. "He didn't do anything except go see how I was doing after those..._estúpidas_" **– stupid girls**—"started gossiping about him." She shrugged and Katt and Brianna started to stand up. "Sit your ass down! What do you guys think you're doing?"

"They're going over there to go Kyo on their sorry asses," Hazel said. Thea laughed. The answer was so plain and simple and so like Hazel. Katt and Hazel had been saying that since 7th grade when Katt moved here. It bugged Thea every time they did but she said nothing.

"Why? That's stupid. It didn't bother me," she lied. Katt looked at her and she didn't look away. Hazel just looked at the two of them as they talked. She had finally learned what _estúpidas_ meant in 7th grade so she didn't have to ask this time. Katt, Brianna, and Thea had both used it (and a few other choices words) enough for her to know it sounded familiar but she only remembered the rude ones.

"It did and we will," Brianna said.

"You know, Blondie, just because your boyfriend has the same name as the guy from that loud-as-_Hell_ Japanese band, Dir En Grey, doesn't mean you two can use that annoying phrase so loosely." Hazel and Katt laughed her frustration. Thea knew they weren't going to listen anyway but she was just glad to change the subject.

"Okay, back to William Thorne," Brianna said. _Ugh! So close! _"Explain again. What did he do?" She ran a hand through her straight brown hair. Thea sighed and explained what happened quietly.

"He likes you."

"Nope."

"Why wouldn't he? Your pretty," Hazel said.

Thea snorted and looked at her three friends. Katt with her tan skin and dark eyes, you could automatically tell that she was Hispanic like Thea was but with her Japanese features she looked exotic. Hazel was pretty in the regular way. She still had her tan from over the summer but she wasn't built like every other skinny white girl in the school. She was curvy and her curly hair made her different. Brianna was Hispanic and part Jewish **(just pointing it out… the **_**real**_** Brianna actually is…) **and just all around pretty and gave off a confidence that you didn't see in most people. She had her tan skin, brown eyes and long legs and she worked them.

_They_ were pretty. Thea was but she wasn't about to brag about it. She was taught by her _Abuelita _(and Hazel to tell the truth) to take a compliment because it was polite and because she shouldn't put herself down. Aaron thought she was "perfect" (whatever that was) and other people complimented her but she didn't want to seem vain. It was a weird thing to think but it was hard to get her to change her opinion.

"Thanks but no. He does _not_ like me."

Hazel looked at her, shocked. "What? He totally does!" Thea flinched at how loud she said that and looked around awkwardly.

"Shhh. It's his first day here. He doesn't like anybody. Especially not me." She paused. "He…_pities_ me." Brianna opened her mouth to speak but Thea shook her head. "I love you guys for trying to encourage me and stuff but no. He doesn't. I'm not changing my mind. Those skanks-" she gestured towards Taylor and Connie- "can have him."

She looked at her phone to check the time. "We gotta get back. I want to race Brianna back to school to get some practice in." Thea grabbed her Dr Pepper and her bag and waited for them. "You guys don't have to run though. You can carry our bags." She smiled and arched an eyebrow to see if they would refuse.

"We'll do great, Thea," Brianna assured her. "We got in last year."

"_You_ will with your mile-long legs but my legs are a little bit shorter than yours." Thea sighed and looked at Brianna in all for her 5 foot 5 glory. Even though Thea was the same height as her, Brianna was always going to be _all_ legs.

"You got a good run in after you ran away from me in the morning," Hazel muttered with her eyes on her third slice of pizza. Thea could tell she really wanted to finish it.

They got up and left the pizza place but when Thea noticed the girls looking at her she looked at them, smiled sweetly and walked out with her dignity intact. Like it always should be.

"So, Hazel. I can drop you off today at your house after the tryouts but then I have to run to Opal's house."

"Babysitting again?" Katt asked. "If you want, I can drop Hazel off and you can drop Brianna off." Katt didn't say it but Thea knew that she didn't offer to take Brianna home because she knew that Brianna wasn't comfortable driving around in a hearse.

"Yup." Thea popped the "p" when she said it. All she wanted to do was get to the school library, sit on the ground in a quiet corner and read before the big track tryouts.

Maybe she could try to finish reading _The Lucky One_. She smiled at the thought of the serenity of the library. The silence of kids studying instead of chatting up a storm made Thea feel right at home. The silence was something she was used to. Unless she was babysitting Opal.

She couldn't wait to see Opal and sit around in her sweats, watch Disney movies and listen to Opal giggle and look at her in awe every time she told a story.

Thea knew every fairytale that she told Opal by heart. _Sleeping Beauty_, _Snow White_. You name it and Thea could tell it to you with dramatic hand movements and different voices for every character. She even sang some of the songs just to keep Opal happy but now Opal was eight and much too old for that. Thea smiled.

"Race you!" Thea yelled. She dropped her bag on the ground with a loud _thud_ and ran off with Brianna close at her heels.

XxXxX

"Vega! Pick up your pace or get out," Couch Neal called. He blew his whistle. Thea rolled her eyes and started running faster. She wanted to join the track team but not enough to let some wrinkly old prune yell at her. She was about to start screaming at him that if he wanted her to pick up the pace he should be more polite and get down on a knee and beg her but Brianna turned her head from 4th place and gave her a look telling her to shut her mouth before something would happen.

Thea tried to content herself with the thought that she wasn't running faster because he told her to but because she wanted to join the track team with Brianna. She ran next to Brianna and when Brianna noticed that Thea was next to her, she winked.

Thea smiled in exhilaration. Nothing could ruin this moment. Not Connie or Taylor. Not the whispering or the pain. Nothing. She loved the feel of the wind whipping against her face. She was starting to feel a little dizzy but _that_ wasn't going to stop her.

"Excuse me, Coach Neal, am I late for tryouts?" a familiar deep voice asked. Thea's stopped for a moment and nearly tripped. Then she ran faster and tried to ignore Neal shout, "Yes, Mr. Thorne! Now I usually don't except late tryouts but since you're new I'll let it slide. Now run and try to catch up." He blew his whistle again and Thea glared and thought about where she wanted him to shove that whistle.

Then she realized what Neal had said. Mr. Thorne?

William!

_Crapcrapcrap! Not now! Not now!_ Thea pushed herself faster and prayed to Gosh that he didn't know it was her running. When she noticed William already in 6th place out of the 20 kids there, she tried to get ahead. She flew past Brianna and all the other students to the guy in second place. He tried to push himself to go faster but Thea was determined and she passed him, noticing a panting William next to her. She could vaguely hear her friends cheering for her from the bleachers.

Then (thank the Lord) Neal blew the whistle. "Okay, kids! Take five!" Thea sighed and she wobbled a little as she walked to go get a water bottle.

"Hey, Thea," William said as she took a sip of water. It took all the strength in Thea's being not to do one of the best spit takes in the history of all New Jersey.

Thea glanced behind her at where Brianna was standing by Katt and Hazel on the bleachers. They winked at her and Thea mouthed, "Cut it out!" and did the little hand motion that Joey did on _Full House _that went with it. She turned around and smiled at William, knowing what his next words would be.

"Hi, William." She wobbled a little, feeling dizzy again from that run but drank some more water and tried to ignore it. The next part of the race was coming up. He had to eliminate 10 out of the 29 people who came. Then he would eliminate more next week.

"How are you doing?" William asked her. When she flinched, he smiled sheepishly.

"I'm doing just peachy." Thea smiled and hoped that it didn't look like she was choking. There was a piece of hair in her face and she stared at it, blowing it out of her face. She hoped that it looked subtle but when she saw William's hand reach out, she didn't dare move. He moved the piece of hair behind her ear and left his hand on her cheek. He smiled, unashamed of what he did and Thea could feel her face heating up.

"Are you sure?"

"OMG!" she heard from the bleachers. It was probably Hazel or Katt. Maybe both but she couldn't process anything except for the fact that William just touched her and didn't seem to care that there were people around who could see.

_Ho-ly crap! _"I-I'm positive," she stuttered. Thea hated that her voice was shaking.

"Alright! Get in line to start the new race!" Neal blew the whistle again and Thea flinched.

"Good luck, Thea." William smiled and walked back towards the line. Did Thea stare at him as he walked away with her mouth open?

She sure as hell did.

Thea sighed and got in the row in between Brianna and William.

"On your mark…get set…No!" Coach Neal bellowed. Six kids started running and when they realized that he said "no" instead of "go" they stopped and walked back to their spots with their heads down. "You six, out! Now! You need to learn to listen to direction."

Brianna opened her mouth to protest but he blew the whistle. Then he yelled, "Go!"

Thea started running, her blood was pumping and her leg muscles were burning but she ignored everything and everyone around her and just started thinking.

_Why did William do that? Why does he care about what goes on with me? It's not his problem. He only just got hear. I know that what Connie and Taylor said was messed up but why get involved? Some guys don't like talking to me. They all knew Aaron and what I meant to him so they just back off but why…?_

"Vega! Stop!" Neal called. Thea slid and turned around.

She was pretty far away from where they were supposed to stop. "Crap," Thea muttered. She walked back by Brianna. Brianna gave her a questioning look.

"Sorry. I wasn't paying attention," Thea looked at the coach with her head held high.

"Well next time you should pay attention…" The coach paused and turned to all the other kids. "You should all follow her and Brianna's example and not complain about running so much like I heard coming from your mouths…" Thea's mouth fell open. Did she just get a compliment? From Neal?

She looked at Brianna. Brianna shrugged and mouthed, "Still wanna say something now?" Thea shook her head.

"Okay. Tryouts are over. You can grab a bottle of water from bench or go into the locker room and change. I'll post the list on Monday." Thea sighed and walked to where Katt and Hazel were sitting.

"What the hell was that all about, Thee?" Katt asked her. Hazel stared at her with wide eyes and Brianna just stood with a smirk on her face.

Thea played dumb.

"What are you talking about, Kitty?" She looked back in embarrassment to where William stood with a bottle of water in his hand. He felt her staring and smiled at her.

_He sure does look good in those shorts. Mmm-mmm-mmm. _Thea sighed. "Brianna, come on. I have to get going. Opal's parents are gonna flip." And she needed a shower. Thea couldn't stand being sweaty. She needed a shower. Pronto.

"Are you going to change now or when you get home?" Thea asked. Brianna paused, looking at the frantic state Thea was in and said, "Home."

"See you guys later." She smiled. "Thanks again for taking Hazel home, Katt."

"_No problemo_." Katt looked at William to where he was standing, talking to Neal then at Thea. She gave her a look that said _You're totally telling us later_. Thea rolled her eyes.

"Bye, guys. Come on, Brie." Thea grabbed her duffle bag, holding her Chuck Taylors and her school clothes. She walked to her car with Brianna but couldn't help it.

She looked at William again. She just couldn't seem to keep her eyes off of him. He felt her staring and looked at. His blue eyes shone. Still hiding those secrets. She waved at him and he nodded back.

"Wipe that drool off your lip, Vega." Brianna teased.

"Whatever, babe," Thea rolled her eyes and tried to hide her embarassment. She unlocked the doors and tossed their duffle bags. They got in the car and Thea stole one last look at William Thorne.

* * *

**Hey people! Thanks for reading. I know this chapter was a long one. Okay. I have one question and I would love it if you would answer in a comment or a PM: Since I put skank in there does that mean I should change the rating or does it not matter since it's T? So yeah, thanks a mil for reading! R&R please!**

**-Ruby Lucero**

**P.S.: Blondie, three slices this time, huh? XD**


	7. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Thea**

_"Wipe that drool off your lip, Vega," Brianna teased._

_"Whatever, babe." Thea rolled her eyes and tried to hide her embarrassment. She unlocked the doors and tossed their duffle bags. They got in the car and Thea stole one last look at William Thorne._

Thea untied her hair and shook it down and it flowed down over her shoulders. She snickered when she saw the look of horror on Brianna's face.

"Thea," Brianna sighed, "I fixed your hair before and now it's all messy. Let me fix it again."

"Hush, Brianna. I don't care. It was going to get messy while I ran anyway." Brianna frowned and Thea rolled her eyes and glanced at her reflection in the mirror. She looked fine today. That annoying in-between phase with her hair ended in freshman year. Thea didn't know why Brianna was freaking out so much. It was Thea's hair, not hers.

"Come on. Let me fix it." She tried to grab the rubber band on Thea's wrist.

"Leggo, Brianna! Leggo of me or I'll push you out of the car!" She reached around Brianna to open the glove compartment and threw one of the many bags of pretzels she kept in there at Brianna. Brianna let go of her wrist like her life depended on it and Thea smiled triumphantly. Brianna opened the bag and started eating them happily.

She started the car and drove down the street, gripped the steering wheel violently. Sometimes she wondered how she even got her license. She was careful but that was only because she was terrified of getting into an accident. She'd been through enough without her license and she wasn't too fond of cops. The only good thing was that she had the way to Brianna's house down to a science. Turn left to get out of the parking lot, go straight. Left. Right. Left again.

"Are you trying to rip the steering wheel off the car?" Brianna asked Thea slowly like she was speaking to a small child.

Thea glanced at her for a brief moment and stared at the road in front of her. She stopped when the light was red and mumbled, "I don't like being sweaty," and stole a pretzel from Brianna. She chomped on it angrily.

"What?" Brianna asked.

Thea looked at her again and yelled, "I just don't like being all sweaty, okay?" She glared at the road while Brianna nodded thoughtfully. She turned down Brianna's street.

"Are you sure William didn't get you all worked up? It looked like you were running away from him during tryouts…" Thea heard a crunching noise that told her that Brianna was balling up the bag of pretzels.

"I'm just a little worn out. I'm sure if I take a shower and wash my hair real quick, then I'll be fine." Thea sighed and smiled at the road. She parked in Brianna's driveway. "Opal is going to want to hear all about my day."

Brianna nodded in understanding. Her little brother was just about the same age as Opal. "Thanks for the ride, Thea and the pretzels." She reached behind her to grab her bag from the back seat.

"No problem. Say hi to Junior for me."

"I will." Brianna opened the door and walked towards her house. When she didn't hear Thea's van sputtering away, she turned and waved. Thea smiled and looked behind her to back out of driveway carefully.

She drove home, quickly and parked in the driveway.

Thea got out of the car, tugged at her bag from the backseat. She fumbled with her keys on the way in, dropping them a bunch of times and groaning when she had to bend over to pick them up again. She was really starting to feel her muscles tense up from the run.

Finally she unlocked the door.

"Mom, Jacob! I'm ho-ome!" She listened around for a moment and sighed. They weren't home yet. Probably still working. She hung her bag on the stairs.

"Oh well. I'll see them later," Thea mumbled. She took a step inside and immediately she saw a flash of sandy fur fly through the air. It landed in front of her with a _thud_. Thea snickered.

"Hey, Brick. Sorry I'm home late. Are you hungry?" The dog made little begging noises at the back of his throat and Thea rolled her eyes. "Don't be such a drama queen, boy." Brick nudged her leg with his nose. "Fine, fine. You can have some beggin' strips." Thea paused and realized that she was having a conversation with a dog that was (hopefully) not going to answer her back while the front door was open. She closed it immediately and walked into the kitchen to get him a Beggin' Strip.

Brick followed her and his tail wagged. She held it out and he snatched it from her hand. He gnawed on it happily. "Did you wanna go for a jog later, Brick? We can bring Opal and she can follow us on her skates again." Brick nodded his head a little, his eyes focused on the bag of treats in her hand. "Okay, boy. Calm down. You can have another." She held out another and he barked.

"I'm going to take a shower. Come." Brick barked and Thea could have sworn that it sounded like a "rokay." Thea shook her head, pondering the decrease of _Scooby Doo_ episodes that she watched with Opal and walked into her room to grab a towel. She walked into her bathroom.

Brick padded over to the window seat and layed down with his head resting on his paws.

Thea closed the door and stripped down until she was sky-clad and turned on the shower. She waited until it the steam was wrapped around her and stepped in. At first the water burned her skin but then she got used to it and felt her tense muscles unwind.

She ran a comb through her wet hair and looked down in shock to see that it hung down to the middle of her back. Maybe she needed a haircut.

_Aaron liked it long… _She washed her hair and put conditioner in it. When she was finished combing her hair again, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped the towel around herself and stepped into her room.

She sighed. She could still feel William's touch on her cheek. Thea grumbled about how it was his first day here and she shouldn't be embarrassed because there was really _nothing_ to be embarrassed about. Aaron took that kind of embarrassment away from her a while ago. She shouldn't be so shy.

Brick looked up and strode into the bathroom to give her some privacy. Thea put on her underwear and a bra **(what am I supposed to call them? Underclothes? Panties? Hell no! That word scares me…)** and went through her drawers for a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. She really needed to do laundry soon…

Thea giggled as she stared her drawers. The last time someone went through her drawers, it was Briceida looking for a pair of shorts she could borrow.

"You don't have a thong?" she asked. "That's we-e-eird." Thea nearly choked on her root beer that day. Then again the girl did give her a push-up bra for her birthday last year. Thea protested, saying that she "didn't need any push" but Briceida gave it to her anyway. Sigh.

She found a pair of jeans and a Dr Pepper t-shirt that Katt and Hazel bought her for her birthday last year. It came with matching pajama shorts. **(Hint, hint, chicas! Even if my birthday **_**is**_** in December…) **She put them on and slipped on her socks and sneakers. Then she dried her hair a little so it wouldn't be so wet when she got to Opal's house.

When she was done, she grabbed Brick's leash from the hook on her door and started to head downstairs. She went to the bookshelf in the living room and snatched _Matilda_ from the shelf and threw it in her messenger bag. Opal hadn't finished reading it.

"Come on, Brick." She clipped the leash on Brick's collar, grabbed her keys from the kitchen counter and opened the door. She saw Brick bounce up and down impatiently like a small child and locked the door quickly. She started jogging but when she noticed that Brick wasn't happy with the pace they were going at, she started sprinting.

Before she could start to enjoy the run - or feel the pain in her legs - she was already at Opal's house. The door flung open and Opal jumped into Thea's arms. Her skinny little arms wrapped tightly around her neck and her little legs were wrapped around her thigh so she wouldn't fall.

Thea grunted. Opal was heavy. "Hey, sweetie," Thea laughed.

"Thea! I missed you!" Opal yelled. Opal's mom stepped out the door and smiled at the sight of her daughter with her arms wrapped tightly around Thea's neck. She was wearing her scrubs. She worked in the same doctor's office as Thea's mom.

"Hi, Thea," she said.

"Hi, Mrs. Bennett. Sorry I was a little late. I had to take a shower after the tryouts." Mrs. Bennett smiled in understanding.

"Trust me, Thea. I know. I was in track once, too." She smiled again. "Well, I have to get going. Don't wanna be late. If you're hungry then there's lasagna. All you have to do is heat it up. Opal's just had her snack and she'll be hungry later. Tom will be back around 10:30. Bye guys. Love you, Opal." She hugged Thea, petted Brick, and bent down to kiss Opal's forehead.

That's what Thea loved about Mrs. Bennett. She got straight to the point and she was quick about it.

"Got it." Mrs. Bennett started to walk to the car. "Oh, Mrs. Bennett?"

"Hmm?" she turned around.

"Last week, I promised Opal that if she was good, I would take her out for ice cream. Is that alright with you?" Opal looked up at her mom and made the puppy-dog face, batting her eyelashes. Mrs. Bennett laughed.

"Sure. It's fine with me as long as you don't let her eat too much. She might get a tummy ache." She started to get in the car and paused. "Thanks again, Thea. You're the greatest."

"Bye, Mrs. Bennett." Thea lifted her leg up a little so Opal would stop slipping and walked inside. Opal looked up at her "Is it me or did you get heavier?" Thea mumbled as she gestured with her head for Brick to come inside with them. Opal scowled and locked the door with her foot, trying her best not to fall.

"I don't think I did." Opal squeezed Thea's neck affectionately. Thea put Opal down and pretended to look her over.

"I think you got more freckles, too. You've been outside a lot, huh?" Opal looked at her in shock, with her green eyes wide.

"How'd you know?" she exclaimed.

Thea looked around to make sure nobody was listening and whispered, "I'm a wizard."

Opal's little pink mouth rounded into a perfect O. "Like Harry Potter?"

"Exactly like Harry Potter. Now come on. I can tell that you want to go outside so we can swing." Opal ran off towards the back of the house. Thea saw her open the glass door that lead to the backyard and disappear.

Thea smiled and ran after her.

xXxXx

"By the time she was _three_, Matilda taught herself to read by studying newspapers and magazines that lay around the house. At the age of _four_, she could read fast and well and she naturally began hankering after books…" Thea looked down and saw that Opal was already asleep. Her small arms were curled around her dolphin Pillow Pet. Brick was laying on the floor by Thea's feet. Asleep as if he lived there. Silly dog.

She flicked on the nightlight. "Good night."

Thea stepped out of the room on her tiptoes and ran downstairs to the living room to finish _The Lucky One_. She was almost done and once she finished it, she could give it back to her mom so her Mom could read it again.

The doorknob jiggled and Mr. Bennett walked through the door. He looked a little worn out.

"Hey there, Thea." He ran a hand through his and salt-and-pepper hair.

"Hey, Mr. Bennett. Opal's in her room asleep and Brick is acting as a watchdog. She passed out a while ago." Thea smiled. "She ate her veggies and her fruit with her dinner after she did her homework and I took her out for ice cream because she was good. Her mom said it was okay."

"Wow, Thea. You're really thorough." Thea winked. He smiled and Thea wondered if he bleached his teeth. "Do you want me to drive you home?"

"No thanks, Mr. Bennett. I'm fine walking. It would be a waste of well-earned gas anyway. I'll see you next week. Tell Opal and Mrs. Bennett I said 'bye.'" Mr. Bennett walked into the living room, guessing where her bag was and handed it to her. Thea threw it over her shoulder.

Thea whistled softly and Brick padded down the stairs quickly and stood beside her. What a loyal golden retriever. He was the best dog she'd ever have.

"Bye, Thea. See ya."

He opened the door, sensing how quickly she needed to get home, and let her out. He followed her down the driveway to make she sure was going to be okay.

Thea turned around and waved. Then she unzipped her bag and gave Brick a treat for being so good today.

She walked slowly. Enjoying the sounds of nighttime around her. The crickets chirping, the owl hooting. Footsteps behind her and the sound of Brick sniffing the ground.

The footsteps behind her?

She turned around quickly, feeling her old sneakers slide roughly against the pavement. There was nothing behind her but she could still hear the footsteps.

"Just my imagination…" The sound her of her voice breaking through the silence scared her a little. She felt like a wimp. Thea kept walking down the sidewalk and tried to calm herself down.

The footsteps got quicker.

And so did she. Instead of walking, she started jogging. Once they started jogging, she was sprinting and panting. Brick was next to her. He growled and tilted his head to the right.

Thea ran up to her door and fumbled with her keys for the second time today. Once she got it open, she ran inside and slammed the door shut. She was panting with her hand against her chest.

Her mom walked by the door. "Hi, Thea. What's up?"

Thea barked out a laugh.

"Fine, Ma. Just fine."

**Hola, chicas. Thanks for reading the 6****th**** chapter of My Immortal. While I type this, I'm watching **_**Chicago**_** while texting my friend, Brianna. For the **_**second**_** time today. (The texting not the) Cellblock Tango is playing in the background. "He had it coming. He had it coming. If you'da been there. If you'da heard it. I betcha you would have done the same." Lol. "The dirty bum, bum, bum, bum. The dirty bum, bum, bum, bum…" So distracted. Should be doing math homework, too… "Pop. Six. Squish. Cicero. Lipschitz." So yeah…thanks for reading. R&R… "One of those Mormons, ya know?" …Bye! Thanks!**

**-Ruby Lucero**


	8. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do own this story but I don't own the song "Rock Your Body" by Justin Timberlake. I do own a Taylor Launter poster, though. Which in my mind is so much cooler... Read on, fans!**

**Chapter 6**

**Thea**

"_Thea," Aaron whispered sheepishly, "I'm not feeling too hot." His dark brown eyes bore into her black ones. They were bloodshot and he swayed in his seat. Thea was worried. The night before…_

_The night before…well, it was pretty _different_. For the first time ever, Aaron broke down. His perfect façade was ruined and cried with his head in her lap, saying that he was going crazy and that he felt like he was losing control of his body. When he cried, Thea could feel some part of her breaking. She had known that something was wrong before last night but never said anything. She knew him. When he was ready, he would talk. And talk he did._

_Before he broke down, Thea could feel Aaron's stare on her neck while they were watching a movie. It was strange. When it was over, Aaron led her out of the movie theater and when she asked him what was wrong he couldn't take his eyes off her neck then his husky voice answered, "Nothing, babe. Just a little… _thirsty_." But now he wouldn't talk about it. It was as if last night never happened._

"_What's wrong, Aaron?" she asked. He looked up. There were dark circles under his eyes. He hadn't been sleeping lately. He would call her at midnight, asking her to read or just talk to him. He said the sound of her voice soothed him to sleep._

"_Are you feeling okay to drive? If you can't then I can drive you home and walk back to my house." She looked around the pizza parlor and felt herself getting sick because of worrying so much. She took a sip of her soda slowly for something to do._

"_No, I'm fine, Thea. I'll drive you home. I don't want you walking home alone this late at night." Thea smiled to herself, a secret little quirk of her lips. No matter what situation he was in, he would always find a way to worry about her._

_It was sweet._

_He got up and took her hand when she got up. Thea tried to reach around him to grab her denim jacket but he beat her to it. "Your coat, m'lady." He smirked and helped her put it on._

"_Are you sure that you can drive me home?" Thea asked him. Aaron looked at her from the corner of his eye and opened the door for her. They walked out, his hand still grasping hers tightly._

_It was chilly outside and the stars tried their best to shine through the clouds. The moon shone through them. It took Aaron a while to respond and when he did, he was looking at the darkened night sky._

"_Yeah."_

"_Absolutely positive?" Thea bit her lip. He opened the car door for her._

"_Positive." He closed her door and walked around to the other side. "Now stop worrying about me, okay?" He looked at the road in front of him, and then looked back so he could back out of the parking lot. He drove down her street and stopped in front of her house._

_He walked out of the car, seeming detached and walked her to the door._

"_Bye, Thea. I love you."_

_He kissed her before she could reply. Long and hard. Like…like he would never see her again. He pressed her body to his so he could feel her molding to fit him perfectly, like two pieces of a puzzle. Thea could feel her face heating up but she was too busy to care and wrapped her arms around his neck. He skimmed his hand across her face like he wanted to memorize it. His other hand felt around for hers. She felt her long fingers interlace with his. When he finally let go of her, he pushed a piece of stray hair behind her ear and kissed her cheek._

"_Love you, too." Thea put a hand to her lips and watched him walk to his car. "Night…"_

XxXxXx

Beep, beep, beep!

"Aww. Dammit to_ hell_…" Thea turned over and slammed the alarm clock's snooze button down in aggravation. "Stupid alarm clock." She flipped over again and crawled lower under the knitted blanket her _Abuelita _made for her when she was a baby, staring at the panda Pillow Pet that her Mom got her a while ago. Brick was curled up at her feet, his fur tickling her toes.

When Thea tried to get out of bed, her legs wobbled under her and she fell to the ground on her knees.

"Cra-ap!" She let out a very _colorful_ stream of curses and tried to get up again. She had never run so much in her life and now she couldn't move. Wonderful. "Screw this." She crawled across the floor and got up once she reached the bathroom. She decided to do something that she hadn't done in 6 months; she took a good long look at herself in the mirror.

The girl staring back at her seemed tired but her gaze was aware and cautious like she thought something strange was about to happen. Her ridiculously dark brown eyes were half closed and framed by thick, dark lashes. Her wild curls cascaded over her tan shoulders and flowed down her back. She was pretty but Thea noticed something more about her. In her eyes, there was a certain kind of fear and maturity that you didn't see in a lot of people her age. The rings under that Thea always thought were going to be permanently etched under her eyes when Aaron died, were gone. She looked

Were those the things that people saw when they looked at her?

How strange.

She sighed, filled up the tub with hot water and poured in her favorite bubble bath soap. It smelled like vanilla and brown sugar. She was being good, she deserved a bubble bath and the stress of possibly having to speed to school. If she got a ticket then she would pay for it without a problem with her babysitting money. No need to bother her mother with something else.

She tied her hair into a loose bun with strands that couldn't be tamed hanging down around her face and stepped into the tub. The warm water felt good against her skin and loosened her tense muscles. She sunk down lower until her chin touched the bubbles and the tips of her hair were wet.

_So, so tired. I could sleep if I really wanted to. I could tell my mom that I didn't feel good and she would call me out of school. _But she was curious. Thea wanted to see how William would react towards her today. She argued with herself for 20 minutes straight until she got up, drained the water out of the tub and took a shower.

When she was done, she got out and dried herself off with a towel. Then she untied her hair and shook it down. Thea walked out of bathroom and looked for something to wear after she put on the necessities. She went through her closet and found a faded red Coca Cola tank top that hung down an inch or two below her hips - she really liked soda themed things - and a pair of dark blue leggings. She stuffed her cell phone in her pocket.

She walked down the stairs slowly and saw her mom sitting at the kitchen table with a plate of eggs and bacon by the seat next to her. She was wearing a pair of holey gray sweats and a big white t-shirt. It was probably Jacob's.

"Morning, Ma," Thea said. Her mom nodded. Not in the mood to talk. "Thanks for the eggs. Yum…" Still no response from her mother… Not unusual. If Thea was usually an all-day person then her Mom was definitely not a morning person. Nothing would change that. Thea just thought it was funny that Jacob was the other way around. He'd probably randomly waltz into the kitchen with the newspaper under his arm and a coffee in his hand in a few minutes, smiling always smiling.

"Go back to bed, Mom… You seem tired…" Thea looked around awkwardly.

"I am. I just wanted to make you breakfast. Love you. Have a good day at school." She smiled, obviously tired. She got up and walked back towards the bedroom she shared with Jacob.

"Night… Love you, too." Thea sat down at the table. She ate her breakfast quickly so she could get to school. She didn't have to pick up Hazel this morning since Kyo was going to so she could try to get to school early and read...

Thea washed her dish and went back upstairs so she could check her bag to make sure she had everything with her. She grabbed her long gray hoodie with the thin white stripes. She tried to look for a ring that _Abuelita_ let her keep with the blue carbuncle in the middle because her grandma knew that she loved to read the Sherlock Holmes's story about the same stone. She had to clean it with a toothbrush and toothpaste to restore it to its former glory. It took an _hour_ to clean it but she got it done!

She went through her jewelry box and put it on when she found it. She wiggled her fingers and watched the silver catch the light.

"Nice," Thea muttered in appreciation. She caught a sight of herself in the mirror and smirked. Her hair still looked a little messy and Brianna was probably going to say something but who cared? She slipped on a pair of black socks and practically crawled under her bed to find her favorite pair of black Vans. She slipped them on and threw her bag over her shoulder.

Jacob sat at the kitchen table, his hair slightly rumpled and his glasses sliding down his nose as he read the morning paper. He took a sip of his coffee. The funny thing was that if Jacob weren't there, Thea wouldn't have even known that they got the paper every morning. Her Stepdad and her mom were married for four years and it still shocked Thea that Jacob got up earlier than the last guy her mom dated before she got married. Tom. Bleck.

Jacob looked up and smiled. Thea smiled back and waved. They always had little exchanges like that. That was what Thea liked about Jacob even if she was a talker, they didn't have to say much to each other to get the point across.

"Have a good day, Thea." He tossed Thea her car keys and smirked as she caught them in the air. How did he always know when she forgot something?

"Right back at cha." Thea smiled and twirled her keys around her index finger. She turned and left the house. She heard Jacob get up to lock the door for her and she unlocked her car.

She plugged her iPod into the audio jack in the new radio that Jacob bought her for her birthday and turned up the music. She was feeling especially dorky so she put on a Justin Timberlake song.

She started to sing with the windows rolled down as she started the car. For some reason, she was too happy to care. She danced in her seat.

"_Don't be so quick to walk away (Dance with me)  
I wanna rock your body, please stay (Dance with me)  
You don't have to admit you wanna play (Dance with me)  
Just let me rock you, till the break of day (Dance with me)_

Got time, but I don't mind  
Just wanna rock you, girl  
I'll have whatever you have  
Come on let's give it a whirl

See, I've been watchin' you  
And I like the way you move  
So go 'head, girl, just do it  
That ass shakin' thing you do

So you grab your girls and you grab a couple more  
And you all could meet me in the middle of the floor  
Said the air is thick, it's smellin' right  
So you pass to the left, then you sail to the right

Don't be so quick to walk away (Dance with me)  
I wanna rock your body, please stay (Dance with me)  
You don't have to admit you wanna play (Dance with me)  
Just let me rock you till the break of day (Dance with me)

I don't mean no harm  
Just wanna rock you, girl  
We could move, but we  
Let's go, let's give it a whirl…"

"Gah!" Thea turned off the song when she noticed that after she parked the car, William decided to stand next to her window. He stuck his head in the car.

"Hi, Thea." There was an amused tilt to his lips and a devious tinkle in his eyes. It told her that he was watching the entire time.

_Oh _God_… He saw me. And some random guys whistled at me. Creepy… _She gagged and swallowed the bile that rose up into her mouth. Disgusting. Then she composed herself and arranged her expression to look confident and clever.

"Hi, William." She smirked and tried to hide her humiliation. "Enjoy the show?"

It seemed that everyone else did. She arched an eyebrow. Maybe it would have been worse for him-and the other guys-to catch her doing a Cameron Diaz in her living room while wearing a t-shirt and her favorite pair of Spiderman undies…at least she had the butt for them. Hehehe.

Aaron caught her doing that once. Aaron wasn't too fond of knocking and he was pretty happy after that day… Boys are strange.

At least it would have been in the privacy of her home. She wouldn't have to hear guys whistling at her. It wasn't as if she was doing the Macarena…naked…

"Oh, I did." She heard a whistle from behind her and flinched. "It seems that he did, too." Thea rolled her eyes. As if it mattered what _they_ thought. William stuck his head out of the car, probably to get a better look at who whistled, because they were snickering loudly which was really stupid but instead William growled. A low sound that came from deep in his throat.

Thea shivered and got out of the car.

"Oh, gross," Thea muttered. She grimaced. She knew the guy who whistled but she really couldn't remember his name. She didn't have enough time to try to remember because William was walking over now with a murderous look in his eyes.

"Listen, dude," the guy -Mac, that was his name…how could she have forgotten? -began, "it wasn't me…"

"No, _you_ listen. You will treat _her_ with respect. Girls aren't something you just _whistle_ at like dogs. They're people who should be appreciated. You got it? If you don't then you'll hear from me…"

William glared at him and Thea watched as William stood with one foot forward and his hands balled up into fists. Mac puffed up like a fish. His hands were balled up into fists too. William was a head taller than him but Mac was beefier. Still, William radiated a confidence that Mac didn't really have.

Thea stepped in between them and put a hand on William's chest. Why did guys have to have so much damn testosterone in their stupid bodies? It was annoying. They weren't animals and they weren't fighting over a mate. They needed to relax.

"Hey, _geniuses_!" Thea said, as she noticed the crowd forming around them. "You _both_ need to listen. Yes, William, I am indeed a girl-" and she had the boobs to prove it- "but that doesn't mean that I can't defend myself." She didn't take those stupid ass self-defense classes for nothing. She glared at them. "Now, Mac, go away before I kick your sorry ass for whistling at me. If I hear about you whistling, looking or even thinking about another girl-who's _not_ your girlfriend, then I'll totally let him kick your ass after me because he's _probably_ stronger and it would hurt more if he did. William…" Her gaze softened as she turned to look at him. One corner of her mouth tilted up in half a smile as she noticed William's lips twitching, trying to keep from laughing at how scared Mac seemed to be. "Thanks." She watched Mac slip away with his head hanging low, his usual posse at his flanks. The small crowd that was forming left, sad to see that there would be no fight.

"Second day here and you're already going to fight someone?" Thea winked. William turned around and looked at her. He shrugged and smiled mischievously.

"Male nature, I guess."


	9. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**William**

Exquisite.

Even if it _was_ three weeks ago, William could still see Thea dancing and singing in her car. Swaying her hips to the beat of the music. The image was permanently etched into his mind. She looked exhilarated and wild with her hair untidy around her face and her eyes shining deviously. When he stood by her car, it took every once of restrain in his being not to pull her out of the car to shield her from the thoughts of those boys. He couldn't hear what they were thinking but he could tell by the looks on their disgusting faces. He almost killed someone.

Then when that boy came, he saw Thea show her fierce side when he was going to break the bastard's nose. The way she looked when she was mad and threatening someone's well being, well it was one of the most adorable things he had ever seen. It was so endearing.

When she walked away from him that day, he knew that he would always remember the sensual way her hips swayed and the way she had her head held high. He stared at her as she walked away, wondering if his mouth was open. He knew that she always walked like that but he could see the way her shoulders slumped slightly like she was silently baring with an invisible weight on her shoulders. It made his heart break.

She was upset.

Did she always walk with her head held high like that to show people that she was getting better? Did Aaron pick up her idiosyncrasies like he did? Like when she chewed the end of her pen when she was thinking really hard about something. Or when she tapped her foot when she was nervous.

William sighed. It was stupid of him to come here so impulsively. She was still getting over Aaron's death. It was amazing that she was even speaking to William. She wouldn't want to go out with him. He couldn't do something like that. It was wrong…

"I was a fool to come here," William said, with his head in his hands. He heard quiet footsteps coming from behind him but didn't turn around. People - social outcasts as some people liked to put it - who were studying in a library on a Friday night, surrounded him studying and oblivious to his inner turmoil. It was probably someone getting a book.

"Actually," he heard behind him, "I personally think that it was great that you came." He turned around and smiled. "I found a guy who can actually put Mac in his place - but I'm _sure_ that was mostly me - and someone that I can suffer with in Spanish class." Thea smiled slyly and then she bit her lip. Oh, he really wished she would stop doing that. It only reminded him of how much he wanted to kiss those soft lips.

"Hello, Thea." He noticed that she wasn't wearing her contacts today. In their place was a pair of black wire-rimmed glasses. Not that it made a difference to him. She was his Thea. Nothing would change that.

"Hi… What was that about, William? You seem kinda down." She sat down on the ground next to him and crossed her legs Indian style with her book in her lap. He looked at the cover curiously. Stephen King.

He smiled at her concern. By the way she held her head, he could tell that she was in a good mood. "It's nothing…just trying to picture you kicking Mac's 'sorry ass'."

"Sorry. I should wash my _unladylike_ mouth out with soap." She rolled her eyes. "People should be used to it by now but it even bugs my mom. The messed up part is that she's worse than me…"

William laughed with her. He loved the sound. It was so melodic.

"I find that hard to believe." Thea laughed again. He's heard her at her worse.

"Uh-huh. So why are you moping in a corner on a Friday night? A guy like you should be out. Having fun." She smirked as he rolled his eyes.

"You sound like my mother!" William laughed.

"It's true." Thea shrugged. "You're sitting on the floor and talking to yourself when there are millions of pretty girls out there looking for a guy as cute as you." She thought he was cute?

Thea was pretty good at pep talks but she didn't understand what was going on with him. She probably thought that he didn't like his classes or that he missed his "friends."

"I could say the same thing about you." Thea's eyes widened and she tilted her head to the side. "I mean it. You're pretty." Understatement. She was smart, kind, beautiful and…

"Thanks." Thea pursed her lips. "Now _you_ sound like _my_ mom...and Hazel…and Brianna. I have a perfectly good reason though. I was escaping my empty house because my mom's out with my stepdad. I begged for an hour, asking them to go without me. They'll be gone for quite some time1." She paused. "Plus I had to return some books. What's yours?" He laughed. The way she phrased the question made her sound like his cell mate asking what he was "in for."

"Well, maybe I just figured that a pretty girl would wander up to where I was talking to myself and make fun of me." Thea laughed quietly and rolled her eyes. It wasn't a complete lie. He came to this town to see her but he came to the library for something to do. He didn't feel like spending time at home.

She stared at him for a long time as if she were observing a patient. "Sorry, I just can't understand it. I never would have pictured a guy like you who preferred to be alone."

"I like it that way." _But I would love for you to stay with me. _He tilted one corner of his mouth up in half a smile.

"Oh." She smiled but he could still see the hurt in her eyes. "I'll leave you to your solitude then." Thea stood up and leaned over to grab her book. She turned to walk away, her sneakers sliding against the carpet.

"Wait - since you're going to be alone too, why don't we mope around together?" Thea whirled around and her mouth fell open.

"I…um… Sure. I'd love to." She looked down at her holey, paint-splattered jeans, green field hockey sweatshirt and old sneakers, looking embarrassed. Then her hand reached up to touch her hair. It was tied up into a messy bun with strands loose around her face. She obviously came prepared to sit around all day. Probably until ten, when the library closed.

"Did you want to go anywhere or did you want to stay? I don't mind sitting around here. It looks like you were going to, too."

"I was actually going to the park… I like to read there. Even if it will be dark later." She smiled and he nodded.

"Well, let's go check out our books and then we can go. If you want, I can drive you and take you back so you can drive home."

"I actually walked here. I had gotten so used to walking or riding my bike everywhere, that I never really got used to driving."

"Okay." He walked next to her towards the desk and pulled his library card from the pocket of his faded jeans. His hand reached out for a moment to put it on the small of her back, he could see Thea walking and holding her breath. When he put his hand back down, he saw something familiar flash in her eyes. Was it disappointment?

XxXxX

"I think…ketchup."

"Ketchup? Really?"

"Yep."

"Really?_ Why?_"

"Yes, William. Ketchup is one of my favorite condiments." Thea climbed higher on the tree and William passed her the book she was reading.

"Be careful." William was sitting on the branch below hers. "Why ketchup?"

Thea shrugged and opened the book. "I put it on everything."

William looked at her with her eyebrows raised. "Rice?"

"Yup. My mom had to look away every time I did. She thought it was gross."

"Chicken?"

"Hah! Oh yeah. Unless it already had stuff on it."

"Soup?"

Thea wrinkled her nose. "Eww! No. My grandma would have been really annoyed if I did that in her house and my mom could barely stand the ketchup fixation."

"I knew it. You can't put ketchup on everything." William smirked.

"Whatever, Mr. Condiment-Expert. What's your favorite movie?"

William pretended to think about that for a minute. "Hands down, it has to be _Lady and the Tramp_. My favorite part was the meatball scene where they ate the spaghetti." Whoever said that vampires weren't capable of humor must have been very wrong.

"What a romantic." Thea rolled her eyes. Then she laughed and shook her head.

"What is it?" William asked her.

Thea smiled sadly. "When Opal asked Aaron that once, that was his automatic answer." She bit her lip and looked down at him, her legs hanging off of the branch as she ducked her head down so she could get a better look at him. William searched her eyes for any sign that showed she was going to cry.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." William reached up to put a hand on her shoulder. _Was_ she going to cry now?

Thea barked out a laugh. "Don't apologize. That's what everyone does. I wish people would just talk about him. It makes no sense to me. Yes, he's dead and he was my boyfriend but people don't have to be so damn careful around me. I won't break. I'm not a china doll. Not everything makes me cry. I'm a big girl."

"I know but people don't like to talk about it. Especially after what he did."

"Just say it."

"Say what?"

Thea handed her book to him and climbed down to his branch. She sat in front of him. "Just say it. He killed himself. Aaron didn't want to stay in this world so he ended it." She looked at him and smiled sadly. "I think I'm starting to accept it... I mean yes, I miss him and I always will. He was my first boyfriend and I love him but..." She paused and climbed down until she was sitting on the branch below him and he couldn't see her face. It annoyed him. He wanted to see those brown eyes. He wanted to drown in them.

"I'm sorry. I'm pressuring you will all of this. You only just found out about what happened. I shouldn't be freaking you out."

Now it was William's turn to talk. He slipped down fluidly and sat in front of her on the branch, his face now inches from hers. "Do you remember what I said to you my first day here?"

Thea pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Perhaps…" she mumbled. "That depends. You said a lot."

"I said," William began, slowly, "that I think you've been thrown into a situation that you don't know how to handle on your own. I think it's more to other people though. Since they're scared to hurt your feelings. Most people don't know how to handle a _pretty_ girl crying."

Thea's eyes widened slightly when he called her pretty but then she rearranged her expression to look calm and mature.

"I know, I know." She paused then seemed to realize that his face was so close to hers. She breathed in deeply and closed her eyes. William's hand reached out and he stroked her cheek. All he could think about was the way she smelt like vanilla and he wondered if she tasted like vanilla, too. He wouldn't think about anything else. Not even the burning in his throat. Only her. Thea drew herself in closer, their lips now millimeters apart and in his mind, William was rejoicing. Yes! It was finally going to happen! She was going to kiss him!

But no…

Thea opened her eyes again and blinked a few times. Her mouth opened and closed and she backed away, feeling around for the branch across from theirs. She sat on it and sighed.

_No, Thea. Why can't you just _let_ yourself give in to me? I _love_ you. I would never do what he did to you._

Then she smiled shakily. "What's your favorite book?"

"_The Art of War_." William smiled and tried not to show how upset he was.

Thea rolled her eyes. "You're such a guy." Then she shivered. "It's getting colder."

"Do you want me to take you home?" Thea shook her head immediately.

"No, no! I wasn't even thinking about it." She sighed. Then William climbed down the tree with their books under his arm and landed on his feet lithely.

"Come here," he said softly. Thea looked at him for a moment and then climbed down. William put a hand on the small of her back to steady her.

"Thanks." She sat down against the tree trunk and William sat next to her.

They talked the entire night and the more Thea talked to him, the closer she got to him. They looked at the stars and lay down on the grass. Some how Thea ended up snuggled up against his chest. He loved the feel of her soft body against his own. She was so warm. Every once and a while, Thea would press herself further into his chest and William wrapped his arms around her waist. He reached down to untie her hair and it spread out across his chest.

He pressed his lips to her forehead and twirled a lock of her hair around his finger. He didn't need to drink her blood now. He didn't even need to kiss her. All he needed was to hold her like this and watch the stars shine in the inky black sky and see the moon illuminate one side of her face, her brown skin glowing.

_She's mine. All mine._

"Mmmm…" Thea mumbled. She sighed quietly and blinked a few times. "William?"

"Yes, Thea?" _My sweet love, my darling love. What can I do for you? Anything, anything… _When did he become so melodramatic?

"What time is it?" She sat up and looked at her hair. "Why is my hair untied?"

William ignored her second question and checked his watch. "Eleven o'clock."

"Mmm…I want to stay here," Thea muttered as she pouted and stood up, dusting the grass from her jeans. "I have to go."

_I want you to stay, too. _"I'll take you home." He stood up, feeling empty as he watched her walk under the trees. He unlocked the car door and found her sitting in the front seat, her hand already on the dial to flip through the radio stations.

"Sorry, it's what I do," Thea said. She smirked and when he turned on the car, she listened for a moment to see if she liked the song but changed it. And changed it, and changed it.

"You're very picky, huh?" Then when she heard "Rock Your Body" through the stereo in his car, she started cracking up. "No show today, Thea?"

"Nope. None." She winked and changed the radio station.

William drove down the street and looked at her from the corner of his eye whenever he had the chance to. She was still flipping through the radio stations while tying her hair into the bun she had it in before. She had the hair elastic in between her teeth. He remembered that he shouldn't know where she lived.

"How do I get to your house?" William asked quietly. He saw her squint, take off her glasses and clean them. Then she put them back on and stared at the road briefly.

"Turn right here," Thea muttered. "Then go straight until you see the house with the picturesque porch swing."

"Got it." He did what he told her and parked the car in the driveway. Her mother and stepfather weren't home yet. "_Picturesque_ porch swing?"

"I like alliterations…" Thea sighed and stared at the house. "It's kind of corny but I love it and my room has a window seat. As soon as I saw the room, I ran in and refused to get out until I finished setting it up. Brianna helped me. She even found a special place for my hair products." Thea rolled her eyes and smiled. William smiled and got out of the car. He opened the car door for her and she nodded her thanks.

They walked up to the porch and Thea glanced at her porch swing. Another night, perhaps.

"I had a…" _Wonderful, fantastic, amazing_- "a great time, William. Thanks. I don't think it would have been that fun on my own. I probably would have finished my book, though." She smiled. He handed her the two books she checked out.

"I did, too." Another understatement. One day, he thought. One day she would know exactly what he felt about her. Her grace, her kindness, her ability to be fierce but still is gentle at the same time. That was what he would always love about her.

"Goodnight, William." She went up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek tenderly. He could feel her soft hair brushing against his cheek.

"Goodnight." He stepped down from the porch and watched as she tried to unlock her door. She opened it, turned around, waved then stepped inside the house. As he walked to his car, he could hear the sound of Thea humming and a soft animal-like growl from the inside of the house.

_Mine. All mine._


	10. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Thea**

"Ughhh!" Thea moaned. "Why, God? _Why?_" She glanced at her computer in agony. It deleted her essay! That piece of… She sighed. Poor ol' Bertha had been through so much. She's had that old laptop since she was 15 and now it was spazzing out on her. Grrr. Just grrr. She went through her recycle bin and moaned again. The file was empty except for a few old essays and crappy stories that she wrote and hated with a burning passion.

"Crap!" She opened a new document and began typing like mad. Then her cell phone rang. She didn't even have to check the caller ID to know that it was Brianna.

She answered the phone and saved the introduction she had written. "Hola, muchacha."

"Hey, Thea."

"What's up?"

"Nothing. What about you?" Thea sighed and stared at the computer screen. Then she touched her lips and sighed again, this time in happiness.

"Nothing. I know what's up with you, though." She could almost hear Brianna smiling wickedly through the phone.

Thea sighed. "Bri-an-_na_," Thea whined, "I lost my History report and now I have to type it all over again. No." She saved what she had so far and turned off the laptop. She put it on the bed next to her.

"Too bad."

"I refuse to move my lazy butt _from my bed_ unless I have to eat, get a book or look for the remote. I don't want to go anywhere."

"You went somewhere yesterday," Brianna reminded her. Thea got up, closed her door and put her phone on speaker.

"_Touché_ but it was the library. I saw William and we realized that we were both bored and we just sat around. I did what I usually do when I'm alone. Except I did it with another person." Thea sighed and touched her lips again.

She almost kissed him. Her lips almost touched his but -damn it- last night, the only thing that her lips touched was his cheek. She could still feel the slight stubble scratching her chin.

"Another _hot_ person." Brianna laughed. "Screw the essay. You're coming over. Mom took Junior and my stepdad so I have an empty house."

"But-" Thea pouted even though she knew Brianna couldn't see her.

"You. _Are_. Coming. Over. And you're going on the trampoline. Then we can explore the _Coraline_ door." Thea could hear the smugness in Brianna's tone. She knew that Thea couldn't resist the trampoline or the _Coraline_ door. Oh God!

"Fine, fine. But it's only because I wanna go on the damn trampoline."

"Are you gonna put a quarter in the swear jar?" Brianna asked.

"I don't have change. Wait…" She went through her jewelry box to see if she had a quarter. Then she swore three more times because she didn't have change for a dollar.

"Funny." Thea could picture Brianna rolling her eyes. Thea picked up her phone and went downstairs. On the kitchen counter, where they usually kept the swear jar was a note.

_Screw the damn swear jar._

_-Mom_

Thea started snickered. At least she could keep her dollar. "I'm coming over." She grabbed her sweatshirt from her desk where she threw it last night and put it on.

XxXxX

"So what happened?" Brianna asked finally.

Thea and Brianna were both sitting on Brianna's bed in her room. As soon as Thea got there, she knew that Brianna was going to ask her about last night but Brianna was respectful and wasn't going to ask until she thought Thea was ready to talk about it. They went on the trampoline, and watched _Prince of Persia_ until finally, Thea started chewing on her thumb nail, a nervous habit her had and in a quiet tone she muttered, "Darn you! Just ask already."

"Nothing interesting. I went to the library and I was looking for the Stephen King book that I wanted and I saw him sitting on the floor with a book next to him. He was talking to himself. He said, 'I was a fool to come here' and we started talking. I joked around because I thought it was weird that he wasn't at a club or a party so then he said he liked being alone. I thought it meant that he wanted me to leave so I got up. Then he said, 'Since you're going to be alone too, why don't we mope around together?'"

Brianna nodded thoughtfully. "He likes you."

"He doesn't. He was bored and probably lonely." She paused, thinking about whether or not it was possible. She shook the thought away and continued. "I looked down because I was wearing the ratty old jeans that I wore when I painted my room and when you taught me to skateboard and my field hockey sweatshirt from when I was a sophomore. Plus my hair was messy and-"

"You mean how it is now?" Brianna muttered. Thea rolled her eyes.

"Now is not the time to complain about my hair… and I was wearing my glasses. _Yes_, Brianna. I _am_ wearing most of the things I wore yesterday except for a different, cleaner pair of jeans. We checked our books out and he drove me to the park. We talked. I fell asleep…" Thea lowered her voice. "On his chest… It was so warm…"

"_Where_?" Brianna crossed her arms and stared at Thea.

"On his chest… Oh, don't give me that look. It wasn't like he was Taylor Launter in a scene of _New Moon_. He was wearing a shirt!" Thea stuck her tongue out and Brianna rolled her eyes. "When we got there, I lead him to my favorite tree and climbed on one of the branches and we just started talking. Then he told me to climb down after him and he sat against the tree next to me. After we talked, we just kept getting closer to each other and I ended up against his chest…"

"Mmm-hmmm." By the look on Brianna's face, Thea could tell that she was wondering how anyone could have a favorite tree.

"I fell asleep and after a while, I woke up and my hair was untied which was strange because I never untied it and I sat up after a while."

"Most guys like playing with girls' hair," Brianna stated matter-of-factly.

"I know. Aaron used to do that." Thea sighed. "What am I supposed to do?"

"I love how you're asking me the same questions that I used to ask you." Brianna smirked. "Did he say he would call?"

"No."

"Did you at least give him your number?"

"Nope. The thought didn't even cross my mind." Thea sighed and fell back on one of the pillows. She covered her face with it. "Ughhh!" Brianna laughed at her.

"I wanna play Sims."

"I wanna eat some ice cream. I would do that at home but my mom finished it already."

"I can grab you some in a minute. As soon as I feel like moving."

Thea stared at the pillow. She took a deep breath and held it in. Maybe she would suffocate and William would come to her funeral, sobbing and wondering whether or not she liked him. He would place a bouquet of roses that were so red they were nearly black on her grave and place a hand on the tombstone as if he was placing a hand gently on her cheek.

It was a definite yes… She liked him. _God, I'm weird_, Thea thought. _So many weird scenarios. I should be an author! I should also stop watching reruns of _Glee_…_

"I'm moving back to Peru," Thea mumbled into the pillow. She sighed. "I miss my llamas."

"You've never been to Peru. The farthest you've gone is Texas!" Brianna said. "You've never even been off this dumb continent."

"Well I can say that when I get back from Peru and my llamas. I hope you enjoy going through high school alone as a pariah or a hermit. I'd go with hermit because it makes it seem like you're choosing to be alone." Thea moved the pillow from her face and winked.

"But you'll come back from the llamas and we can go to college in California. ULCA is a party school. You're not going to Harvard anymore."

"I'm still gonna try. I want to keep my options open… My mom is going to be sooo pissed off if I come back a valley girl. Like, oh my God. People would, like, never want to talk to me again. Like, that would, like, totally suck, girrrl." Brianna snickered.

"Yes, how would you go on? Since when do you know how to deal with people? Let alone humans." Brianna pretended to scratch her head.

"Since I had to deal with them when I worked at the bookstore and at Starbucks. Punchy is _not_ an emotion but there is now an eighth dwarf. I like vampires more, though. Ghosts and werewolves too."

"You're nuts."

"I know but humans bother me," Thea said slowly, as if she was talking to a small child.

"But what about me?" Brianna pouted. "I'm human."

"You would be so much cooler if you weren't! We have too many hormones and emotions that control our lives."

"You're crazy…and you watch _way_ too much TV."

"Right back at ya, babe." Thea stuck her tongue out at Brianna and she got up to get her ice cream. "Thanks, Bri-an-na!" Brianna threw a pillow at Thea's head.

"You're welcome," Brianna said.

**Hello, everyone. Sorry this chapter is kinda boring and has no William in it but I wanted to give you guys a taste of Thea's life when he's not there. Plus this chapter is just a filler because I've kinda got writer's block... I hope you guys liked the chapter. R&R!**

**-Ruby Lucero**


	11. Chapter 9 Part 1

**Chapter 9**

**Thea**

"…So will you go?"

"_Nope_."

"Pleeeaasssee?"

"No," Thea said slowly.

Brianna and Thea were both sitting on the couch in Thea's living room, watching a movie. It was about a party where a bunch of random ass teenagers got drunk at a kegger. Thea knew that the only reason Brianna was making her watch it was because she wanted Thea to go to Mac's party with her, Katt, and Hazel. Thea knew about the party but because of what happened a few weeks ago (when she discovered the dangers of a Justin Timberlake song when mixed with estrogen), she wasn't in the mood to go. Brianna had been dying to, saying that it was supposed to be the "best party of the year" but Thea seriously didn't care.

"Why not?" Brianna retorted. Thea bit her lip.

Why didn't she want to go? Was it just because of the fact that she wasn't in the mood for people today or was it because two of her favorite guys wouldn't be at the party? One of them was a definite "no" because he was buried six feet under but would the other one really come?

"'Cause," Thea replied.

Brianna opened her mouth but Thea held up a finger. "If you ask again, Brie, I swear to whatever gods or goddesses that may be up in the freakin' clouds, heaven, or Mount Olympus that I _will_ kick your ass. Do you hear me, God? How about Allah, Buddha, Zeus, and Thor? I swear I will!" Thea threw her hands in the air for emphasis and Brianna pouted.

"But Katt and Hazel are going and I really wanna go to the party. There will be cute guys!" Brianna said.

"Screw the guys!" Thea sighed. "I'm not going to the stupid party. Do you remember what happened the last time I went to a party?" Thea groaned. Remembering. She went to a party a week after her 18th birthday and a guy threw up on her shoes. She had to walk home barefoot because she was too pissed off to drive home. Her parting words were, "Take my effing keys and leave my car in the driveway. If you get drunk and none of you can drive, then call me and I'll walk back." Then she flung her keys at Katt and walked out the door.

"You're no fun!"

"I do _not_ care!" Thea flipped over, landing on the couch upside down. "I want to stay home and read. Plus, I don't want to dance around and watch a bunch of stupid teenagers get drunk and grind on each other because of alcohol induced lust and courage."

"You're a nerd." Brianna crossed her arms. "I told you in 7th grade that if me and Katt were going to a party, we would fix you up and make you look pretty. I'm going to straighten your hair and make you put on some make-up. You have to wear something other than jeans and a t-shirt. You can't wear your glasses either."

"Bite me," Thea growled, gesturing to the shirt she was wearing. Brianna rolled her eyes, still not believing that Thea owned a tank top that actually said "bite me" in pink bubble letters on it with a picture of Gingy from _Shrek_ underneath. "Besides, my mom would say no."

"Teresa said you could go. As long as there was no beer and if there was, she knew you wouldn't drink any. She's going out later with her friend and she doesn't want you to be lonely since Jacob's working late tonight." Brianna smiled smugly. "If you say no, then I'm calling Katt for backup."

"What am I going to wear?" Thea challenged. She could feel the blood rushing to her head so she rolled over, landing on the floor on her backside. Standing up quickly, she brushed herself off as Brianna rolled her eyes, used to Thea's, for lack of a better word, Thea-ness.

"That nice strapless gold baby doll top, the one with the buttons, your black shorts, and black flats with the gold threading. The one you bought with my help…"

"I do like that outfit," Thea muttered. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Because I'm sick of you sitting at home all the time, writing stories on your laptop. Aaron used to be able to get you out of the house without you complaining and I'm going to try whether you complain or not."

"He didn't hear much complaining because he was very…persuasive." Thea's eyes twinkled mischievously. Brianna rolled her eyes and they both started laughing. As if Aaron had done anything but kiss Thea.

"Don't forget. You owe me," Brianna said. "Four words: 7th. Grade. Math. Project." Thea groaned, defeated and Brianna smiled triumphantly.

"I hate you."

"You love me."

"Sadly, I do."

XxXxX

"Why the hell did you bring your book with you, _Bruja de mierda_?" Katt asked as Thea turned down the street to Mac's house.

"Because, _mi gata_, halfway through the party I plan on hiding in the bathroom and reading so I can start my bloody book report!" Thea looked at all the houses and stopped when she heard music coming from one of them.

"Oooh," Hazel said. "British Thea! Scary." Thea threw a glance behind her at where Hazel was sitting and growled. Then she parked the car. "I wonder what's worse. Psychic Thea or British Thea…" she trailed off, leaving the answer to the imagination. Thea turned off the car and took her keys out, twirling them around her index finger.

"I'm sensing something from the spirit world," Thea said. "They're telling me that some guy's gonna puke on my shoes again." Thea sighed and stopped twirling the keys around her finger. She fiddled with the decoration that hung from a separate silver loop, a green bookworm with glasses and a red book under his arm. Thea pouted and began biting the nails on her free hand. Brianna slapped her hand away from her mouth, complaining that she had painted them gold just for the party. Thea felt like crawling under her seat and letting someone else drive.

She missed Aaron.

She felt exposed, and frustrated without him. Whenever he went to parties, he would take her with him and if she was nervous he would just play her favorite song of the month on the car radio to get her to relax. He never would have complained if she tried to wear her vintage Jimi Hendrix tee to the party either.

"Relax, Thea. Just have fun." Katt smiled and Hazel nodded indulgently.

"I feel unorthodox." Everyone in the car laughed except for Thea. They were all used to her phrases but Thea was the only one who took them seriously.

"You should feel awesome," Katt said.

"I feel like I'm gonna puke." Thea gnawed on her lip nervously.

Katt rolled her eyes and continued. "You're beautiful and hilarious and you write kick-ass stories. You're one of the smartest people I know. You're patient even when you're not in the mood to deal with us…"

"You look hot," Hazel said. She hugged Thea's neck from behind and Thea swatted Hazel's hand away.

Oh Thea definitely knew that. Hazel had said that multiple times from when Thea picked them up to now. Brianna made Thea shower and wash her hair so Brianna could help her blow dry it. She sat around for a while in a big t-shirt and her Paramore shorts until Brianna was done so she wouldn't ruin the gold top. She changed quickly and did her makeup. A little bit of lip-gloss and gold eye shadow and a little eyeliner because she didn't want to look like a raccoon. She looked nice when they finished but before she could walk out the door, Thea got a text from Hazel. It said:

**Don't forget the Jergen's Natural Glow. XD It makes ur legs sparkly. ;) U will look**** pretty!**

Thea ran back upstairs to her room. She slathered some on, threw the bottle in her bag and ran out the door, kissing her mom and Jacob goodbye again. Jacob asked if she had her pepper spray and Thea rolled her eyes, calling "Yep! Love you," as she left. So now, Thea was in her car, bored and nervous, wearing a cute gold top from Forever 21 and black shorts that clung to her thighs and butt way too much for her liking. She could have stayed home but she was a pushover and couldn't say no for once in her life.

"Yeah. Thanks for reminding me about the Jergen's Natural Glow," Thea said. Hazel beamed at her.

"You're hair looks awesome," Brianna said. Then she muttered, "Because I fixed it."

"You shut your dirty pie hole."

"How are you going to get William to like you with a mouth like that?" Brianna mused. Thea glared at Brianna and smacked her shoulder. "You're so abusive." Brianna shook her head sadly.

"I know," Thea stated cheerfully. She smirked. "You _should_ be used to it so bite me," Thea said for the second time that night. Katt leaned over and bit down hard on Thea's bare shoulder, leaving a mark. Thea rolled her eyes.

"Mmmm. You taste like _café con leche_." Katt snickered.

"You're insane!" Thea yelled. "And that nickname is weird." She rubbed her shoulder.

"Whatever. Get your ass out of this freakin' car and go have some fun," Katt said. Only she didn't say freakin'. She smiled to show her she was kidding but Thea obeyed. She put the keys in her pocket.

"If you guys get drunk, I will send you home with a bunch mints and a huge mug of coffee," Thea teased as she slammed the car door. "Or if you're really drunk then I'll let you sleepover so you…_we_ don't get in trouble…"

"Thanks," they all said. Katt, Hazel and Brianna took the first steps toward the house and Thea took a deep breath. She was going to be fine, she was going to be totally fine. No one was going to puke on her shoes tonight. Nope, nope, nope.

_I miss Aaron._ She whimpered quietly, feeling the all too familiar pain in her chest and linked arms with Katt and Brianna for support. Hazel went up on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around Thea's neck.

"You'll have fun!" Hazel said, childlike face lighting up hopefully. Thea thought that she would have more fun if she was wearing the Jimi Hendrix shirt but she didn't mention that because she was scared of Brianna tonight.

"Yeah. I think I will." Thea smiled and squeezed Hazel's shoulder affectionately. Katt hugged Thea and Brianna hugged her quickly, not fond of getting all touchy-feely. She felt like crying, her friends were so amazing. "Let's go, _chicas_."


	12. Chapter 9 Part 2

**Disclaimer: I own this story but not the songs, Pretty Girl Rock by Keri Hilson, Wind It Up by Gwen Stefani, or With You by Chris Brown but i do own an iPod that contains all of these songs. Read on...**

**Chapter 9 Part 2**

**Thea**

"Woooo!" Katt yelled. She rang the doorbell and looked in through the window. Then the door swung open to reveal Mac's face.

"Ladies," he greeted. He smiled and Thea winced. She never thought it was possible but when he looked them up and down, he looked like more of a sleaze ball. Shocking.

"Tur-" Thea started but Brianna elbowed her side. "Hello. Mac."

"Thea." He waggled his eyebrows and Thea gagged quietly. Katt could see the look on Thea's face so she tried to push past him.

"Are you gonna make us stand here outside like a bad host…" Thea said.

"Or are we gonna party?" Katt continued.

Mac paused. "Oh. Right. Come in, the keg's in the back. Nice to see you here." Mac opened the door wider to let them in. Hazel breezed into the party in a way that would put the Tasmanian Devil to shame, looking for Kyo who said he would meet her there.

"Thanks, _turd_," Thea said quickly. She went in and stared at all the people dancing in the living room. Katt and Brianna joined them, dancing to Pretty Girl Rock, one of Thea's favorite songs.

"Come on!" they called.

"_My name is Keri. I'm so very fly, oh my. It's a little bit scary…"_

"Going to get a soda," Thea said quickly. She went to the kitchen, feeling someone's eyes on her and sighed. She looked on the island for a Coke and grabbed an unopened can. When she found one, she opened it and sipped it slowly.

"Who's that girl?" she heard from behind her.

"I dunno but…she's got a nice ass." Thea whirled around and saw that there were two guys staring at her, or more specifically, boring a hole into her backside with their eyes. One of them was wearing a gray sweatshirt from the college two towns over and the other was wearing a black leather jacket. Leather jacket licked his lips and Thea glared at them until they looked at her face.

_You are at a party, Vega. You look hot and you should be having fun. No punching pervs for icky comments_, Thea thought to herself. _If Brianna finds out you punched some college guys at a party…_ _Never mind, she would probably congratulate me._

Then she walked away, walking into someone's back. She saw dark hair and broad shoulders, her breath caught in her throat. Then he turned around.

It wasn't William.

Thea pouted, her lower lip jutting out a little. "Sorry," she breathed. She walked away, the music too loud in her ears and sat down on the couch by some guys watching a movie.

_April_, Thea sang in her head. Another two months until school ended and she was free. Free of the staring and the memories. She sighed.

It used to be so bad.

One time, a month after the funeral, she was driving to her grandparents' house with her mom and Jacob and saw a Jeep that looked exactly like his. Thea pulled over the car on the side of the highway and broke down. Jacob had to take the wheel while she huddled in the backseat, whispering Aaron's name over and over again while her mom rubbed her back soothingly.

She sighed and took out her phone to play Jewel Quest. After a five-minute marathon and nearly getting to level two, she felt a hand on her bare shoulder. She looked over quickly and saw black nail polish and tan fingers.

"Yeeees?" Thea asked.

"Come _on_, Thea!" Katt yelled. "Live a little."

Thea sighed, closed her phone and put it in her sweater pocket. She followed Katt to where Brianna was dancing with a guy from Brianna's biology class that Thea knew Brianna had been crushing on since he broke up with his girlfriend last year.

"Dance," Katt ordered.

"Yes, mistress." Thea listened to the song and danced along to the beat of a Gwen Stefani song. It was a song that Thea's friends knew was one of the many songs on her iPod.

"_This is the key that makes us wind up. When the beat comes on, the girls all line up. And the boys all look, but no, they can't touch. But the girls want to know why boys like us so much. They like the way we dance. They like the way we work…"_

"Wind it up!" Thea sang, she giggled and threw an arm around Katt's shoulders. Then Katt grabbed her hands, dancing around like they did at Katt's quinceñera. Katt twirled her and Thea twirled her right after. She felt the heat of people around her and the energy shifted when the pace of the music did. A slower song that was also on Thea's iPod. She saw Katt look at her apologetically then look back towards Kyo's cousin and Thea watched as Katt slipped away. Totchi beamed when he saw her and looped an arm around her waist. Thea sighed. She knew that look in Totchi's eyes. It was like she was the only girl in the room. Aaron used to look at her like that sometimes when he thought she wasn't looking.

"_And oh. I'm into you and, girl, no one else would do. 'Cause with every kiss and every hug, you make me fall in love. And now I, girl, I can't be the only one. I bet there's hearts all over the world tonight with the love they life, who feel what I feel when I'm with you, with you, with you, with you, with you, girl."_

Thea was about to walk back to the sanctuary that was the couch and continue playing Jewel Quest when she felt two strong arms loop around her waist. Thea turned around and gawked at William's chest since he was holding her too close to look at his face.

"Hi, Thea," he whispered in her ear.

"Hey, William," she replied. "What are you doing here? I thought that you didn't like parties."

William rested his chin on the top of her head. "My mom insisted," he teased. "You look great." Thea wrapped her arms around his neck because it seemed like the normal thing to do since her song was playing and William didn't seem to want to move his arms from her waist. They swayed back and forth as Chris Brown's voice flooded their ears. Thea sighed, loving the feel of his arms around her. She really hoped that he'd never let go.

"Thanks. You should go tell Brianna and her magical hair serum that." Thea paused. "No, don't. She'll try to do this more often… so what's up?"

William laughed softly in her ear, Thea's new favorite sound in the world. "Nothing, really. I was told to come here but now I know why it was such a good idea."

"Who told you to come here?" Thea asked curiously. She never really saw him with any of the guys from school, just two of the guys from the track team. She figured it was one of them.

"Your friends," William said slowly. Thea arched an eyebrow but knew he couldn't see because her head was now resting on his chest.

No wonder they wanted her to go! They were trying to set her up with William! Ugh. She knew that if they were going to a party and Thea said that she didn't want to go, they wouldn't force her because she would have given in anyway. She thought Brianna was trying a little harder than usual.

Thea looked behind her at where Brianna and Biology Guy were dancing. Brianna looked up, an ecstatic look on her face when she noticed Thea in William's arms. She rolled her eyes when she saw Thea glaring at her.

"You're welcome," Brianna mouthed.

"Uh-huh," Thea mouthed back. Thea went up on her tiptoes and leaned close to William's ear. "I was an excellent idea. Brilliant, actually." She kissed his cheek again because she felt daring and William froze. Thea laughed quietly.

"I think this party got much better," William said as he began dancing again, a slow swaying motion. They continued dancing like that until the song ended. When it did, Thea was reluctant to let go. He was just so strong and he smelled so nice, like soap and no cologne like some of the guys she usually spoke to.

He did let go, though and when he did, Thea was very disappointed. The disappointment soon faded when William took her hand. They went through the kitchen where, Thea noticed, the college guys found a new girl to not make eye contact with. She was a pretty brunette who wasn't even giving them the light of day.

"Disgusting pigs," Thea muttered once they were in the backyard.

"What was that?" William asked in amusement. Thea looked up at him.

"Oh nothing." She smiled and sat down on the chair swing on the deck. "How long have you been here?" She swung back and forth and stopped when William sat down. Once he leaned back, comfortable then Thea started up again, the muscles in her calves stretching.

"How long have you been dancing?" William asked. Thea looked up at the sky thoughtfully. A few stars in the sky but not as noticeable as they could be somewhere with less air pollution. She couldn't see this in California, too many city lights. She told Brianna that last week but Brie didn't care that much.

"I don't know. A few songs I guess." She tucked her legs under her and shivered. It was a little chilly.

"Well, then that's how long I've been at this party." He looked at her, his blue eyes hooded and Thea noticed a piece of hair hanging there in front of his eye. Thea reached out slowly and moved it away, marveling in the softness of his hair. She wanted to run her fingers through it all day. When he noticed what she did, she just smiled as if it wasn't anything unusual. "Are you cold?"

"A little." She shivered again. "Brianna never said it would be this chilly." Thea sighed.

"Where's your jacket?" William asked. He stood up, his body subconsciously leaning toward the back door.

"Oh, it's on the couch where some guys are watching TV. It's the black cardigan with the gold threading." William nodded and walked back inside quickly. Thea watched him go, jealous of his simple dark wash jeans and navy blue button down. Thea wanted to wear jeans, but _no_, she had to show off "the goods" whenever Brianna, Katt, Hazel or any combination of the three felt like playing a game that Katt dubbed Thea Barbie after Alice's game in _Twilight_.

Thea lay back against the swing and moved the swing, her legs rocking back and forth. She sighed and stared at the sky, loving the fact that she could listen _around_ the people inside the noisy house and actually hear the sounds of nighttime here. She loved the sound of the crickets chirping and the nocturnal animals jumping from tree to tree. There was a rustling sound coming from the bushes and she glanced at it briefly.

There was a growl then a soft moan. Thea's eyes widened. Oh my _God_… were there _people_ in the _bushes_? Were they…? Wasn't that what the rooms upstairs were for? That was what people usually did _upstairs_ in books and movies.

"Oh gross!" Thea said. There was another moan. It louder this time but it sounded like whoever was making the sound was in absolute agony. Thea got up and edged her closer. She stared at the bush and screamed quietly when a large hand reached out.

Thea bent down and pushed the branches of the bush away. She ignored when they scraped her palm, leaving little cuts that soon turned red from the blood. There was blood covering the guy's face and she wiped it away gently. When the face was more recognizable, Thea's mouth fell open.

It was Chuck Mitchell, quarterback of the football team and one of Aaron's best friends. He was squirming and trying to drag himself out from under the bush.

"Chuck? Oh my god? What happened?" Thea breathed. Chuck moaned again and she wiped his hair, dampened from the sweat, away from his face.

"Mmm, hurts," Chuck gasped as he gripped her shoulder painfully, his grip strong for someone who was in pain, and Thea moved the bushes away more to get a better look at him. There was a long jagged cut across his neck and arms and blood was flowing out quickly, making the dirt red.

Thea squirmed, trying her best to get out of his grip. She bolted inside and ran past the people. "Someone call 9-1-1 now. Someone's out back and he's hurt." Thea said, authority and fear evident in her tone. Thea ran past the college guys who were now screaming like girls and ran into William. He held out her sweater and she snatched it from his hands, searching the pockets for her cell phone. When she found it, she dialed 911.

William's nose wrinkled and he sniffed the air. "I have to go." Thea nodded vigorously William walked away rapidly, covering his nose with his hand. Thea listened to the ringing until someone finally picked up.

"911, what's your emergency?" a man asked in a soothing tone. Thea watched as Mac and some of his friends frantically dumped the beer down the sink. She was glad it was early enough that nobody had too much to drink or that would have been another problem.

"My friend is on the cut across the neck and arms. I can't see how bad it was but it seemed like he lost a lot of blood. It's not a clean cut either, like a knife made it. It was jagged and uneven." Thea ran back outside, pushing people away who were staring at Chuck's body, each person's face showing emotions ranging from worry to awed disgust.

"_Jesucristo_! If you people aren't going to help, will you move?" Thea said. She bent down by Chuck and called for someone to get her something, anything that she could press against his neck to try and stop the bleeding. Right now, the small cuts on his arms weren't her priority; they were probably made when he tried to drag himself. If the cut on his neck continued bleeding, Chuck could die and Thea refused to let Aaron's best friend die before he even go to the hospital.

"What's your location?" the man asked.

"12 Oak Road," Thea said quickly. Someone threw her a rag and she pressed it against Chuck's neck. Thea was panicking, he wasn't moaning anymore and his face looked pale in the moonlight. Thea felt his wrist for a pulse and breathed a sigh of relief when she found that his pulse was normal - for now. The blood leaked through her fingers and got on her shorts.

"It seems like you know what to do," the operator commented.

"I took some courses," Thea said dismissively. "Is someone coming?"

"Yes, yes. They're on their way now. They'll be there in a few minutes."

"Thank you." Thea hung up and put her phone in her pocket, still holding the rag to Chuck's neck. She turned around and groaned when she saw people still standing there. "Move, damn it. Someone stay in the front of the house and lead the paramedics over here when they come."

"Thea!" someone yelled. She felt Chuck's wrist, limp in her hand and stared in the general direction that the voice came from. Brianna, Hazel and Katt ran out with Biology Guy, Kyo and Totchi on their heels.

"Chuck!" Brianna gasped. Thea ignored her.

"Will you guys do me a huge favor?" Thea asked the guys. They nodded hesitantly. "Will you take them home? I plan on going to the hospital with Chuck. Can someone call his parents and tell him to meet us at the hospital?" All of the guys nodded again. Thea thanked them and used her teeth to get the hair elastic from her wrist, tying her hair back one-handed. She looked down at Chuck again and growled, "Where the fuck are these stupid paramedics?"

Then, right on queue, a man and a woman, both in uniform, ran towards them. They told Thea to step away and they would take care of the job. She stood up and wiped the dirt from her legs, wishing that she were wearing her jeans. She watched as they preformed all the motions, they strapped him to the gurney and wheeled him out gently but as swiftly as possible. One of the EMTs stayed behind and told her to come along since it seemed like she was the only one who was coming. Thea ran through the house, slipped into the ambulance and sat down next to where Chuck was on the gurney, his bloody shirt cut away and on the ground. There was a bandage around his neck and it had a thin line of rust-colored blood on it.

Thea took Chuck's hand in both of hers, one hand in his palm and her other hand's fingers rested on his wrist, and breathed a sigh of relief when she felt his pulse beneath her fingers.

"Can you tell me exactly what happened, sweetheart?" he asked. He rested a dark hand on her shoulder and Thea looked up. It was one of the guys from the course she took last summer. His name was Omar.

"I was sitting outside and I heard moaning coming from the bush and I looked and I saw my friend. He was cut and covered in blood."

Thea shut her eyes and felt the familiar ripping in her chest. This drive to the hospital was much too familiar to her and she didn't want to relive this. The beeping of the machines and the quiet chatter of the paramedics, talking about his condition was driving her crazy.

_No, no, no. Chuck can't die. Please, not on the way there. _

Behind Thea's closed eyes, she could see everything that happened with Aaron. They were things that haunted her nightmares for such a long time, causing her insomnia and dark circles under her eyes.

_Thea walked in the house, to check up on Aaron because he hadn't answer his cell. She had a bad feeling deep in the pit of her stomach. She walked up the familiar stairs to his room. She knocked on the door, the white wood cool under her knuckles. Then she turned the knob but it wouldn't budge. The door was locked._

"_Aaron?" Thea called. There was a long pause and Thea was starting to get worried. "If you don't open up, I'm breaking down the door," she said teasingly, hoping to hear a deep calming laugh from the other side of the door. She knocked again and called his name. There was still no reply. Thea ran downstairs to look for the key to Aaron's room that his parents kept on the fridge in case of an emergency. When she found it, she ran back upstairs and unlocked the door._

_What she found in the room would be in her nightmares night after night for the next 4 months before her stepfather decided to take her to a therapist._

_It was Aaron._

_He was lying on his bed but his chest wasn't moving up and down. His normally tan skin was pale and waxy, and his were eyes closed and peaceful, eyelids purple. Thea panicked but grabbed her phone quickly as possible. A woman answer when she called 911, telling her in a soothing voice to calm down, that everything was all right. Thea had to tell them about the pill bottle next to Aaron's bed, the empty one that used to be full of his mother's pain medication, Percocet, from when she broke her ankle. Aaron and his father had been in charge of giving it to her but she never thought that it would be the thing that Aaron would use to take his life._

_The paramedics came, first trying every method they had to revive him. Once his heart was beating after using the machine to shock him, his body jolting up with a sickening buzzing sound, they had to pump his stomach to get rid of the medicine. The procedure didn't work and as soon as they rolled him into the hospital, he died._

_The last words she heard before she ran out of the hospital were, "I'm sorry, Thea but there's nothing we can do now. He's in a better place."_

"Did you find what cut him?" Omar asked her. He was sitting across from her in the cramped ambulance and his gaze never faltered.

Thea opened her mouth and realized that she had been holding her breath for the entire time. "I'm sorry. I never looked. I was too busy shouting orders at people," Thea mumbled absent-mindedly.

Beep…beep…beep… The sound of the machine tracking Chuck's heartbeat was comforting. She looked over at Chuck, praying to every god she knew, something she hadn't done in a while. Thea felt Chuck's hand squeeze hers and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw his eyelids fluttering.

His gasped, his voice raspy. "T-Thea." His voice was quiet and Thea could barely hear him over the machines. The EMTs looked away, not wanting to ruin the private moment.

"What happened, Chuck?" Thea pleaded. "Who did this to you?"

Chuck reached out and swiped his hair away from his face. "Aaron," he said quietly.

**PS. Jesus Christ: Jesucristo**

**Part 1:**

**A word that should not be repeated in front of Hispanic people who actually speak Spanish: mierda. Me and my friend Cat call each other those nicknames. Mierda is a curse word.**

**Gata: cat (female)**

**Bruja: witch**


	13. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**Thea**

"What?" Thea asked. Her heart was pounding in her chest faster than before and the blood was pounding in her ears, filling her head with the sound of her own heart beating. _Thumpthumpthump. Thumpthumpthump._ She dropped his hand quickly as if it was burning her own and turned to Omar.

_It's not possible,_ Thea thought to herself. _S'not true. No way. What are the options? Deliria? Hallucinations? Maybe he drank too much at the party…_ She pursed her lips and considered the latter. It was possible. She never asked anyone if Chuck was seen at the party because she was too busy barking orders but it was definitely possible. _Maybe he had a few pre-cocktail party cocktails…_

"Have you found any traces of alcohol in his blood?" Thea questioned. She hoped she sounded calm, like one of the detectives on a crime show or a doctor in one of her soaps but who was Thea kidding? She was freaking out.

Why would Chuck say something so crazy?

Aaron had been dead for about a year! He couldn't just waltz out of his grave whenever he felt like it and attack a guy who was…used to be his best friend. It wasn't possible. The paramedics shook their heads slowly, faces blank. Thea nodded to herself. Chuck was probably delusional from the lack of blood.

"Why do you ask?" Omar asked. Thea arched an eyebrow and looked at Chuck who was now asleep on the gurney, chest moving up and down slowly, then looked back at Omar. She took a deep breath before answering and when she did, her voice was devoid of any emotion.

"Because Aaron has been dead for about a year." Thea shook her head slowly, wondering why the drive was taking so freaking long. Was the hospital that far away? Thea and the EMTs sat in the ambulance for another good five minutes until she felt the ambulance come to a stop.

The EMTs flung open the doors and rolled Chuck out, calling orders to the nurses at the desk. Thea stepped out, her heart still pounding in an unnatural rhythm that was really starting to resemble a tribal drumbeat, and walked into the hospital. A pretty nurse with blonde hair politely told her to wait there. She sat down next to a woman with a bloody green washcloth wrapped around her hand. She looked worried and was whispering to her husband. A little boy with olive skin, huge hazel eyes and curly black hair sat on his lap, crying loudly. He looked to be around 3 or 4. Thea smiled at him and the boy kept on crying. Then she smiled again and he watched her with wide eyes.

His hand reached out, reaching for Thea's and Thea allowed the boy to wrap his small hand around her finger. His parents watched this exchange with smiles on their faces, pain still evident in the mother's eyes. Thea smiled at them too. Then she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. There was a no cell phone policy so she winked at the little boy, told the mother that she hoped they would take her in soon and walked out.

"Hello?" she asked. She started walking back and forth, ignoring the pain in her stomach that was mostly like nerves.

"Hey! Thea!" It was Katt. "Where are you?" Thea rolled her eyes. Why Canada, of course! She stared up at the sky. She felt like sighing. This was the same sky that she was looking at before she found Chuck. It looked so peaceful before.

"At the hospital. Waiting for Chuck's parents to show up. Did any of the guys call 'em?" Thea tapped her foot and played with her hair. Then she wrinkled her nose in distaste. Her hands were covered in dried blood. Disgusting.

"Yeah! Apparently Kyo texted Totchi and said he did. They should be on their way."

"Okay, Katt. Thanks. Can I call you back? I gotta call Mom and Jake and tell them where I am." Thea paused for a moment and heard Katt's quick reply. She hung up and dialed Jacob's cell. It went straight to voicemail. Thea snorted. Jacob's voicemail was almost identical to hers except hers was shorter.

"_Hi, it's Jacob. I can't get to the phone right now but I hope that you'll leave a message with your name and number saying why you called. If you don't then I'll automatically assume that it probably wasn't that important anyway… So leave a message. I mean it." _Beeep.

"Hey, Jacob. It's Thea. You know my number. So I'm at the hospital. I swear on my laptop (and the dorky typewriter I have in my closet) that I didn't do anything crazy… Do you remember Aaron's best friend? Chuck Mitchell, quarterback, golden boy, et cetera? Well…he got hurt so I had to call 911. I left my car at the party but don't worry, Brie and the gang got a ride home. Can you or Mom pick me up? If not then I can take the bus…or call one of my friends… Bye! Love you."

She hung up the phone and waited a few minutes. Jacob was probably busy so she called her mom next. Voicemail again.

Beeep.

"Hey. It's your daughter, the light of your life, and the twinkle in your eye. I'm at the hospital. I promise I didn't break, sprain, or tear anything. An-y-thing. I also promise that I did not harm anyone or cause someone to be sent to the hospital." Thea twirled a piece of her ponytail around her finger. "Chuck Mitchell got hurt. I had to call 911 so now I'm here. I called Jacob. Brianna and co. got a ride home. Call me back as soon as you can because I left my car at the dumb party. Love you. Bye."

She hung up and went back inside. She noticed that the little boy and his parents were gone so she sighed and sat next to an empty seat. There was a swooshing sound and Chuck's parents ran in.

"Where's my son? Chuck Mitchell." Mrs. Mitchell asked. She looked pretty calm considering her son must have lost a lot of blood and her husband was gripping the counter so hard that his knuckles were white. The nurse told them and they ran off to the right.

Was there really any reason for Thea to be there at all? She had done her part… but no. She knew Chuck and she knew how torn up he was when Aaron died. They had been best friends since preschool. Preschool! Thea barely spoke to the people she went to middle school with. Let alone preschool.

Thea asked the nurse where the bathroom was, because she couldn't remember from when she had been here last and the nurse smoothly pointed her in the right direction with a smile. Thea walked past rooms where she could see people lying with their heads on their laps or people next to family members, groaning in pain. She ran into the bathroom and looked at her reflection.

Thea flinched. She looked like a mess. Her hair was messy and strands were coming loose from the ponytail she put it in and there was a streak of dried blood on her forehead with some smudged mascara under her eyes. It was amazing that the little boy didn't run off screaming. Thea turned on the sink and washed her hands with lots of soap. Then she rinsed her face, scrubbing away the blood and tried to get off as much of the makeup as she could. Thea walked back outside and sat down. She watched the nurses behind the desk talk and answer phones until her eyelids started to droop.

Oh man was she tired. Of course dire emergencies could do that to a person. Thea leaned back into the seat and tucked her legs under her. One little nap wouldn't hurt. If anyone called, her phone would vibrate. With that last thought, she drifted off.

XxXxX

Thea heard a humming noise and felt something buzz against her leg. A first she thought it was a bee so she swatted it away but when she opened her eyes, she saw the nurses on the phone and saw another gurney zoom by her. She groaned, stood up and fished around in her pocket for her cell phone.

Thea walked outside, rubbing her sore neck, and answered the phone.

"Hello?" she mumbled.

"Hi, Thea." Thea squinted for a bit then checked the caller ID. She didn't recognize the number. Maybe it was a telemarketer.

"Who is this?" But of course, she didn't need to ask. She'd know that voice anywhere. It was the voice would recognize even she heard it, pulling her away from the darkness and bringing her back to life…

Thea rolled her eyes at her foolishness. She was so weird sometimes. Was it possible to OD on books? _Maybe it is… I should really take some time away from them like Brianna's been saying since 8__th__ grade_, she rambled on in her head until William's voice broke through and made its way into her ears.

"William. William Thorne."

"Oh, right. Hey, you need something?" There was a brief pause and sirens could be heard in the background. "Are you here?" asked Thea in shock.

"Almost. Katt said that you might still be at the hospital. She called me, you know." Thea was taken aback. Ugh. Of course Katt had his number. She was most likely going to use it for blackmail. She loved the girl to death but Katt was much too good at torturing her. "I figured that you needed a ride since you left your keys with me."

Thea cursed and kicked the bottom of a potted bush in frustration. Then she cursed again. Those flats were not the best shoes to kick hardened clay with. "I did? Maybe I should put a tracker on those…" How could she have been so irresponsible? Jacob would be really annoyed he found out that she lost her keys _again. _Maybe she should tie them to her wrist or make a necklace like Zoey from_ Zoey 101_. It least she left them with William this time and not somewhere else like the library or the mall.

"Yes," William stated. "I have them here." Thea heard him jingle the keys for emphasis. She groaned. She really needed to be more careful with her things. At least in New Jersey she had Jacob or one of her brothers to remind her where everything was. Who was going to do that in California? Katt? Brianna?

"Okay, well I'll talk to you when you get here." She hung up the phone and jumped up when two sturdy arms wrapped around her waist, arms that Thea would know anywhere.

"Will you ever stop doing that?" Thea mumbled. There was a soft chuckle in her ear and she felt William's cool breath on her neck. "And can I have my keys back before I forget them again?"

"I won't stop until you stop jumping 4 feet in the air." Thea craned her neck to look at him and sighed when he released her. He pulled the keys out of his pocket and handed them to her. Thea put them in her pocket.

"Thank you. Now, for your information, I can jump Hazel's full height so thank you very much." Thea rolled her eyes and checked her phone for the time. 11:30 pm. "I'm going back inside. I want to ask the nurse how Chuck is doing."

"Okay," William said. He followed her inside and Thea walked up to the desk. "Excuse me, Trina?" The blonde nurse smiled at her. Thea noticed that she was wearing scrubs with little teddy bears on them. Thea smiled. Her mom had scrubs like that when she was in med school. Now she was a physical therapist.

"Hi, sweetie, how can I help you?"

"My friend, Chuck…Charles Mitchell was admitted into the hospital. Do you know anything about his condition?" Thea tapped her fingers on the counter nervously. _He's fine_, she chanted. _He's fine._

"Oh of course. I checked on him before. He's sleeping right now and visitors other than family won't be allowed in until he gets his strength back. You're the girl who called 911, right? Omar said that you saved his life."

Thea blushed and grabbed her wrist. "Oh, yeah. Well, I was in his first aid class. Omar was a great teacher." Thea smiled and gripped her wrist tighter. "Tell him that I plan on retaking the course next summer. Thank you so much, Trina." Thea smiled and William appeared next to her. He rested a hand on her arm and led her by the door.

"How is he?" he whispered once they were outside. Thea put her fingers on her temples and sighed.

"Oh, he's fine. Sleeping. I'm so glad he's okay." Thea's eyes were stinging and she wiped at them with her fists. She yawned quietly, putting a hand over her mouth. "I should really call my mom and Jake." William nodded. She pulled out her phone and dialed her mom's number.

"Thea? Where the hell are you? I just got your message," her mom asked. Thea arched an eyebrow. Since when did her mom start getting so worried? Thea started taking self-defense classes almost every summer when she was 14 and she took first aid classes in case there was an emergency. Thea was pretty sure she could handle being without her mom for a few hours. Thea would have to be without her when she went to UCLA for a few months anyway.

"I'm fine, ma. I'm at the hospital. It's okay though. I have a ride." Thea tapped her foot and glanced at William who was staring at an ambulance that just sped away, turning right to where Thea had come from.

"_Quen_?" (Who?) Thea rolled her eyes and began pacing. She walked by the potted bush and glared at it.

"William Thorne. You may not know him." Then she muttered, "but Brianna talks about him a lot to bug me…" Thea wrinkled her nose and her mother paused. She stopped pacing and yawned again.

"Okay. See you when you get home. Bye."

"Love ya, _Mamí_. Can you call Jake for me and tell him that I got a ride? Thanks."

"Okay. Ditto, babe." Thea smirked. She was "babe" now, huh? Boy, did she feel great. That nickname was only reserved for special occasions. Her mom hung up the phone and Thea put hers in her pocket.

"Okay," William said. "So where are we going? Am I taking you home or do you want to get your car?" He watched as Thea began pacing again.

"I don't know… I'm kind of feeling bad about you being here so I guess you can drop me off at Mac's house, which is closer. I can drive myself home and you can go home, too."

William's blue eyes flashed menacingly. "I am following you home, Thea," William deadpanned. "I want to make sure you get home safely." Thea arched an eyebrow. She was so _not_ a damsel in distress. She would be fine.

"Nope. I'll call you when I get there," Thea stated. William shook his head.

"No. Chuck was harmed and I refuse to let you drive home alone," William growled. Thea's eyes widened in shock and a shiver went down her spine. Why was he being so protective? She understood his concern but why fight so hard to get his way? He obviously wasn't scared of her like her brothers would have been if they attempted they same thing but she understood where their concern came from. She was their only sister.

"_Fine_," Thea barked. She shivered and looked around the parking lot for his car. When she spotted the Mustang, she stomped towards it in frustration and William chuckled, keeping up with her easily.

"Do you always get annoyed when someone tries to be chivalrous?" William questioned, laughter obvious in his tone.

"I do when the chivalrous person growls at me," Thea grumbled. "_Yo __tengo__ dos __hermanos__ y __ellos__ no le __importan __como__ el __porque __ellos __saben __como__ soy. M__uchachos__ son tan __tontos__. __Yo __puedo __manejar__ mi __propio __carro__, __caramba__. Deja me en paz._" (I have two brothers and they don't care like he does because they _know_ how I am. Guys are so dumb. I can drive my own car, dammit. Leave me alone.) She glanced at him and noticed that his lips were twitching, trying and failing to keep himself from laughing. He unlocked the door and reached over to open it but before he could, she opened the door.

She sat inside the car and rubbed her forearms. She was freezing! Brianna never said that it was going to be this cold. Ugh. Didn't she ever think about these things?

"Here." William tossed her a sweatshirt and Thea put it on. She sighed; glad to be wearing something that was identical to her favorite track sweatshirt and covered her more than the outfit she was wearing, and breathed in quietly. It smelt like laundry. She pulled the sleeves down over her hands and beamed at him. William laughed.

"Thanks," Thea murmured. "Mmmm. Warmth." She wiggled deeper into the seat and felt her eyelids getting heavier and heavier. "Do you remember the way to my house?" Thea asked through a yawn. William nodded and turned around to back out of the parking space. Thea pressed her cheek against the cool glass and closed her eyes.

**A/N: Okay, so this is my tenth chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. Turns out that there's going to be a little gap between chapters. Computer issues. Again but this time it's my fault. Don't ask. I'm going to find a way to upload them as soon as I can but it won't be as soon so for now this story and my other story, **_**Wounds**_**, are on hiatus. So sorry =(**

**-Ruby**


	14. Chapter 11

**I'm back, baby! XD**

**Chapter 11**

**Thea**

"Thea?"

"What do you want from my life, Teddy?" Thea asked as she looked up from her book, glasses slipping down her nose.

It was the last Friday of April, a week after the party. The sun was shining outside and that meant that Thea was at her monthly therapy session with Ted, a friend of Jacob and her mother. Thea was itching to go home. To read, jog until her legs collapsed under her and her lungs were burning, or even clean her room. Anything to get out of this hellhole. But no, Thea had been showing signs of depression around month number four of Aaron's death and Jacob wanted her to go to therapy. And to therapy she went!

It wasn't that bad because Ted was the person that Thea got most of her books from anyway and because the sessions were free. He let her read and listen to music most of the time and she just sat around while he took notes. She was free to bring Brick but today Thea had to go to the hospital later so he wasn't asleep on the ridiculously comfortable "therapy couch" by her side like usual. Thea, of course, was sitting with her back resting where her butt should be and her butt resting against the back, long legs crossed above her with a pair of unlaced combat boots on her feet. She rolled over and sat on the couch the right way.

Thea's therapist chuckled, observing her and scribbled down something in his notebook. "I'm going to make you try an exercise," he said. Thea sighed loudly and put her bookmark back in her book.

"I kinda hoped this was going to be one of those quiet days, Ted." She pouted and looked at her book longingly. "This doesn't involve the weird noise machine does it? I really don't like the artificial sound of the jungle in the background." As if to emphasize her point, a bird began cawing obnoxiously in the background. Thea grimaced.

Ted smiled and rubbed his head. "No. I promise this won't take that long, Thea." He turned around and turned off the noise machine.

"Pinky promise?" Thea asked. She stuck out her pinky and snorted at the look of terror on Ted's face.

"Um…" Ted said, probably thinking about his two young daughters who were very fond of the newly discovered Pinky Promise. He shuddered. "No. I don't think the promise needs to go that far. All I want you to do is to listen. When I say a word, I want you to mention the first thing that pops into your head. Don't think about it either. Just say it."

"Fine." Thea had been defeated and by someone other than her mother. How frustrating. She closed her eyes and flipped upside down on the couch again. "First word, please."

"_Beastly_," Ted said casually. Even though she couldn't see him, Thea could tell that he was eyeing the cover of the book that she was reading. The one he gave her earlier in the session that she was a quarter of the way done with. Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer, his face marred by scars and two pieces of metal on the bridge his nose, were facing each other on the cover because they recently starred in the movie adaptation that Thea had yet to see.

"Roses," Thea said.

"Roses," Ted shot back.

"Thorns," Thea said. She opened her eyes and flipped over because she could feel the blood rushing to her head again. She grabbed the book again and flipped through the pages.

"Thorns."

"William. Are you just going to repeat everything I say?" Thea challenged.

"No… William?" Ted asked. "Guy from school?"

"Yessir." Thea rolled her eyes.

Ah, William Thorne. The epitome of the perfect gentleman. After Thea fell asleep in his car on Friday, he woke her up gently, inquiring whether or not Thea still wanted to drive herself home. She did of course but William insisted on following her home, which led to the questions from her mom and Jacob because she forgot to return his sweatshirt. Also because there was blood on her thighs and the sweatshirt covered her shorts. The annoying part was that there was still dried blood under her nails on Monday even though she scrubbed under them with a nailbrush, which was gross. The worst part was that the hospital wouldn't allow her to visit Chuck until today no matter how many times he asked for her, "the girl who saved his life."

_What a title…_

"Okay." Ted scribbled something down in his notebook, looking thoughtful. "California."

"Hollywood. College," Thea replied warily. _How in-depth can this get if he's saying such simple and vague words?_

"Party."

"Hospital. Stupid things that Brianna dresses me up for-slash-things that I shouldn't bring books to. Is there a point to this?" Ted nodded and Thea played around with a hair elastic on her wrist. Then she figured that this was going to take longer than Ted said it would so she began to separate her hair into three pieces so she could braid it, a time consuming process because her hair was so long.

"Lunch?" Ted asked as Thea began braiding.

"Ramen noodles," she said absently as her fingers moved thoughtlessly.

"Hospital."

Thea pursed her lips. Chuck. She had to visit him later. She got a call from his mother saying that he was finally ready to speak to her. "Peanut Butter." Ted looked skeptical and Thea laughed. "Place I need to go to." Ted wrote something else down in his notebook.

"Green Lantern," Ted said. Thea looked up and saw that his lips were twitching. Along with her combat boots and skinny jeans, Thea was walking around in a black Green Lantern t-shirt with the green ring in the middle.

"Ryan Reynolds in his costume. _Mmmm_…" Thea smirked. Ted rolled his eyes.

"Beach."

"Blue and (hopefully) unpolluted water." Thea sighed longingly and thought of her room, walls that were once white, painted an oceanic blue. She had shells scattered all around her room too and her bedspread's sapphire color looked like the ocean on a dark day. William's eyes looked like that when he was mad and she loved it.

"Blue."

"Sapphires," Thea mumbled, thinking about the color of William's eyes. So blue that sometimes when she looked into them, she thought she might fall in. When he was mad, they became the night sky.

"Aaron."

Thea stopped braiding. That one sort of caught her off guard but she knew that she should have expected it. She was wishing for the comforting sounds her dog snoring softly. Brick was usually a buffer when things got intense. She was really going to miss him when she left for college. Maybe she could hide him in the dorm… "…Not coming back… Ever." She finished her braid and tied the end, pushing a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

Ted nodded to himself. "We're done." He smiled at her and closed his little leather notebook with an air of finality.

**xXxXx**

Thea drove down the street, a look of absolute concentration on her face. Why was she driving to the hospital right after a therapy session, she wondered. Maybe she'd be stressed out after this little visit. After all the last time that Thea saw him, he told her that Aaron was the one who ripped his neck up, making him lose all that blood.

Thea sighed loudly, turning the corner towards the hospital. She followed the signs to the parking lot and went up a floor until she found one. Then she parked, sitting in the car longer than was necessary. When she felt ready, she turned off the motor, took the keys out. Thea pushed the seat back and searched through her backseat for a different pair of shoes because these were hurting her feet. She found a pair of cleats from last September and a pair of charcoal gray converses. She changed her shoes and took her sweet time tying them. She pushed the seat forward like she had it before.

Then when she was really ready, she got out slowly, locking the door.

_I hate hospitals. I really hate hospitals. I really really _hate_ hospitals_, Thea chanted in her head. It was her new mantra as she went into the elevator that led to the hospital. She had to remind herself over and over that this was for a friend and something very important that she had to do.

Thea walked through the sliding doors to the lobby where there was an old man in a wheelchair with a nurse behind him. Thea smiled at both of them and walked to the desk.

"How can I help you?" the nurse asked.

"I'm here to visit Charles Mitchell…" Thea said. The nurse nodded vigorously.

"Oh, yes. His mother called and said to let you right up. I just need to give you a pass…" She looked around the slightly disorganized desk and handed Thea an orange pass. "Here you go. His room number is right on the pass."

"Thank you." Thea smiled politely and headed towards the elevators. "Here I go," she murmured as she pressed the button.

The doors opened and Thea got in, pressed the button for the 3rd floor and sighed as she watched it glow. The doors closed and she could feel the elevator rising. Ding. The 1st floor was the children's ward, 2nd floor, and the 3rd floor. The doors opened and Thea stepped out. She was lucky because the door to Chuck's room was just to the left of the elevator, which meant that she wouldn't get lost.

Room number 314. Thea knocked on the door unsurely.

"Come on in…unless you're my mother. If you are then please stop fussing over me and get me some pudding." Thea laughed nervously. Same old Chuck. She opened the door slowly; saw Chuck reaching his arm out for something. Thea walked towards him and smiled.

"Hey," Thea murmured timidly. She breathed a sigh of relief. She thought that he would look different, unhealthy. His skin, so pale it was almost white when she last saw him, was flushed. He was sitting up on the hospital bed and one side of the bed was guarded, like a crib. There was a cloth bandage wrapped around his neck, hiding the stitches and probably preventing Chuck from scratching it.

"Well, will you look at that?" Chuck said, his voice raspy. He beamed at her. "It's the greatest girl in the world, a goddess standing at my feet. I am not worthy, I am not worthy!"

"Please, stop," Thea said slowly. Chuck laughed quietly, then reached up to scratch the bandage around his neck. Thea walked over and slapped his hand away. She noticed the remote that was just out of his reach and gave it to him. He smiled and turned on the TV.

"So what brings you here, sexy?" Chuck asked as he flipped through the channels. He settled on an old episode of Family Guy and stared at her. "The Green Lantern t-shirt and the glasses? Very hot. Nerd chic. You steal the t-shirt from your brother?" Thea rolled her eyes and laughed genuinely for the first time that day.

"No, I didn't steal the shirt from Stef or Robin and you called me over, dork." She looked over at the room. Teddy bears and balloons galore. The gifts took up more space in the ugly pastel than he did. "I guess it's a good thing I didn't bring you the teddy bear with the cast and the band-aids like I wanted to. You have a lot of admirers."

Chuck glanced over at the teddy bears briefly. "Yeah. That's what happens when you almost die." Chuck looked at her again. "Didn't bring a book, huh?"

"Nah," Thea teased. "I brought money to buy a book in the gift store thing. I figured you'd be asleep, doped up on pain meds. Did you want some pudding?" She glanced at the frustrating pastel walls and the flower paintings. It reminded her of the hotels she'd been to when she went down the shore.

"Nah. Not right now. Besides…" Chuck gestured with a finger for her to come closer. When Thea did, he patted the spot on the bed next to her. "I got somethin' much better." Thea giggled and sat down.

"Did they give you your medicine yet, Dopey?"

"Yeah. Good stuff, good stuff," Chuck said happily. "Want some?" Thea shook her head.

"How many stitches did you get?" Thea asked. Chuck raised his hand back up to the bandage and Thea slapped his hand away again.

"Stop it. Before I call your mother," Thea sat closer to him and tried to hold both of his hands in one of hers. It didn't work out so well so she let him go. "Now, Chuck…I need to talk to you about something serious."

"Shoot." Chuck lowered the volume on the TV and looked at her intently. Thea bit her lip and looked away.

_Buck up, Thie. Just ask._

She took a deep breath and into stared his bright eyes. "Who ripped up your neck?" Thea asked. Chuck hesitated and looked away. Thea reached up and turned his face towards hers. The stubble on his face scratched her fingers.

"I told you what happened, when it happened."

"Tell me again, Chuck," Thea demanded. He tried to turn away but she had a strong grip. "Chuck, I need to know. I haven't been able to sleep for a week. I've been sneaking out of my house and driving around until I got tired. Will you freaking tell me?" She had the newly forming dark circles under her eyes to prove it.

"It was Aaron."


	15. Chapter 12

**Long time no post, mah peeps. Yumm...Peeps... Too much sugarrrr... Anyways...ON WITH THE CHAPTER! Love you all! ~Ruby**

**Chapter 12**

**Thea**

"Elaborate," Thea said firmly as her heart began pounding in her chest. She let go of Chuck's chin. Chuck massaged it while he muttered something about her having a strong grip. "Yes, yes. Thanks. I have a strong grip. Now elaborate before I call your mother and tell her what you said."

She watched as Chuck frowned and looked at her. "What else is there to tell? I went to the party, nearly punched Mac in the face because he was talking about you. Then I got bored and sat outside for a while. I heard someone in the bushes and I went to check then someone pushed me down and… It was _him_. I know it was. I wasn't drunk at that party."

"I know, Chuck. I asked the paramedics to check your blood alcohol levels." Chuck arched an eyebrow at Thea and she smiled sheepishly. "Go on."

"Okay, I got bored and sat outside and then… Then…" The heart monitor started to beep loudly. Chuck was breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling quickly with every breath. Thea placed her hand on his forehead and moved the hair away from his face. She inched closer to him on the bed.

"It's okay, Chuck. It's okay." She shushed him, confused as to why he was taking this so badly. "I need you to calm down so you can tell me everything that happened." Thea looked at the heart monitor and noticed that the numbers were dropping until they were at a normal rate. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay. I'm fine now." Thea nodded and inched away a little. "Aaron, he had this crazy look in his eyes and he bared his teeth and I saw fangs… Then Aaron bent down and he…bit down…on my neck." Chuck frowned, the look in his eyes now very far away. "Damn, Thea, that shit hurt. It felt like he was…sucking the life out of me. Then when he had his fill, he left me. To bleed in a fucking bush. That asshole."

"Aww, Chuck," Thea murmured. She placed her hand on his and gave it a squeeze. "I really don't know what to tell you." She was skeptical. Really, Aaron couldn't rise from the dead...

"It's okay, Thea. I don't really know what to say either. You saved my life then you asked me what happened. I owed it to you so told you." Thea blushed. Was everyone going to talk about how she saved Chuck?

"You're welcome. I was just so worried, Chuck… I didn't want you to…" Chuck nodded. Then there was a knock on the door.

"Hello?" The door opened and a face peeked in. It was Lynne Yawlih, Chuck's girlfriend and one of her best friends. She'd been away for a month in Japan with her sisters and taking her classes online. They didn't think she'd be back until May!

"Oh my God, Lynne!" Thea squealed. Lynne ran in, tears streaming down her face. "I've missed you _sooo_ much! I'm so glad you're back!" Thea met her half way and wrapped her arms around her friend's waist. Lynne wrapped her arms around Thea's neck and squeezed her.

"I heard what happened to Chuck and I came back as soon as I could," Lynne sobbed into Thea's shoulder. "I missed you guys! Japan was so boring without you! …I always knew you were gonna be someone's hero someday." Thea laughed in her friend's ear while still crying.

"God, we're so weird!" Thea sniffled. She didn't want to let go yet. She was so tired, so stressed out and needed a friend here right now.

"I know… Never let go, Thea." They both started laughing again.

"Thea, do you know where my phone is?" Chuck asked from his spot on the hospital bed. "This is so hot, I need to remember this moment forever!" Thea laughed and Lynne turned around, suddenly remembering their audience.

"Leave it to you to ruin a reunion, Chuck," Thea snorted. He chuckled.

"Chuck!" Lynne yelled. She dragged Thea over to Chuck and hugged him while holding Thea's hand. She sighed when Chuck wrapped his arms around her.

"Hey, Beautiful," Chuck whispered in Lynne's ear. "I missed you." Thea smiled at them. That was why she trusted Chuck with Lynne so much. Even if he joked around and called Thea and her friends sexy, he always called Lynne beautiful.

"I missed you too. I'm so glad you're okay." Thea squeezed Lynne's hand then let go, murmuring that they would catch up later. She walked out of the hospital, undoing her braid and running her fingers through the loose curls. She was so bad that Lynne was back and the look on his face when they saw each other, priceless. She smiled to herself and found her car. She started the car, backed out of the parking space and paid the man at the gate. When she got on the road back to her house. She saw a place she hadn't been to in a really long time. She pulled in and parked her car near a tree.

Thea walked until she got to the small gravestone.

"Hi," Thea said softly to the air around her. "I'm sorry I haven't come in a long time."

Of course there was no response, none except for the soft blowing of the cool wind through her hair. It vaguely reminded her of a special of Lifetime. She frowned and zipped up the jacket she was wearing.

"I miss you. Everyday." Thea bit her lip and stared at the tombstone. Under which Aaron's body lay. Cold and unmoving. _Don't think about the TV special you saw with your brother, the one with the decaying bodies and the mummies... Don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think…EW!_ Flinching, she sat down on the grass and faced the tombstone, crossing her legs.

"I'm trying, Aaron. Trying to get over you." A single tear slipped out from under Thea's glasses and ran down her cheek. "It doesn't hurt as much anymore."

God, she missed him.

He used to call her his little chocolate kiss.

His eyes reminded her of the coffee he drank so much. Black.

His lips were so soft. He was so gentle. When he held her in his arms, Thea felt like all of her problems would just fade away.

She reached out and ran her long fingers along the words written in the tombstone. _Aaron Sparks. Just loving in general._ She smiled sadly at the words under his name. It was Thea and Aaron's mother's idea. "Because he was sweet and loved everyone," Thea had said quietly. She brushed some dirt off of the pale, gray stone. There were leaves on the grass near her feet so she gently kicked them to the side, so they were in between Aaron's tombstone and the one next to his. Thea felt like it would be rude to move the leaves on the other person's grave.

"I told you I was sorry, right?" Thea asked softly. She nodded to herself. She had, so many times. Wherever Aaron was, he probably forgave her but Thea couldn't forgive herself for that last fight. The one that pushed him over the edge.

Thea could still see it perfectly. She could remember every word she said, even though she meant almost none of them. She remembered the look on his face when she yelled at him. Guilt, pain, frustration.

XxXxX

Thea was sitting in her bed, sulking, and flipping through the channels.

"M in the P. M in the P. M in the P… Aw, man. Now I have to pee…" Thea changed the channel because she had already seen this HBO comedy special.

"You got it, dude…" Thea frowned and changed the channel because if she watched this show she would end up going through and entire marathon…

"No double cream without double pay! No double cream without double pay!" Thea sneezed and changed the channel. She was going to disinfect everything as soon as she got better!

"That's how you make a beautiful carrot cake whoopee pie."

"Hey, baby," Aaron said. He stuck his head in through the door and smiled at her, chuckling softly at the sight of his girlfriend in bed. She was sick because only Thea could get a cold in July, when it wasn't cold. "Your mom let me in. She's told you that she was going to get to work, right?" Thea nodded because she did know and frowned because her mom let him in. She reached for a crumpled tissue on her bedside table. She nearly knocked over a book but Aaron ran over by her bed and caught it. He began to laugh after he put the book back where it was. She was reading _Twilight _again.

"Are you laughing at me?" Thea croaked. She covered her face with her sheets.

"Sort of." Aaron sat down on the edge of her bed. Much to Thea's dismay, he stuck his head under her sheets. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?" he whispered in her ear. Thea shivered. _God, how does he _do_ that?_

"Never," Thea drawled. Aaron sighed, his breath fanning her hot forehead, and Thea smiled at him. She wasn't sleeping anytime soon. If anything, he should be sleeping. Maybe he was going to get sick right after her.

"You really should sleep." Aaron removed the covers from both of their heads. He tucked Thea in. "I mean it."

"Whatever, _mom_," Thea teased. She smiled at him.

After two minutes of sitting under her sheets like a piece of meat in a burrito, Thea started coughing loudly and hideously. She stuck her free hand out because she was coughing into the other one and Aaron handed her a cough drop from the almost empty bag. She unwrapped it and placed it in her mouth. Aaron watched her movements with an acute fascination, his lips parting when hers did. "Please, leave."

"Why?" Aaron looked like he knew this was coming.

"Because I'll get you sick." Thea scrunched up her nose when Aaron bent down to kiss her. He knew how she felt about PDA when she was sick. "And I need someone to get me more Halls."

"I don't care. Jacob and your mom are both working and I know you'd feel guilty if your grandma took the bus here to see you so here I am. Just call me Doctor Love." Thea snorted then sneezed. Aaron handed her a tissue. "Besides, if I buy you more Halls, you might become addicted. I _know_ that bag was unopened when I was here yesterday!"

"But I'm fiiiine!" Thea wheezed after she blew her nose. Aaron rolled his eyes. They had this argument every time she got sick. "Really, I am!" But, of course, Thea was lying through her teeth. She was achy, not in the mood to move and she knew that after she woke up, she would feel much worse. She yawned. _Maybe it would be good for him to be here...then I won't have to...get up...for my cough syrup..._ Thea fell asleep anyway, with Aaron sitting on the bed next to her, stroking her hair.

When she woke up, she was in Aaron's arms and he was watching reruns of _The Office_.

"That's what she said," Thea whispered. She snuggled deeper into Aaron's arms.

"How are you doing?" Aaron asked.

"I've been better." Thea shrugged and winced when she realized that her shoulders hurt.

"You're not fine, Thea," Aaron whispered. His voice was husky and so close to her. "...Did you know that even when you're sick, you're sexy as you were at the beach yesterday?" He bent down to kiss her.

"Mmm, I doubt it," Thea murmured. She put a hand over her mouth before she started to cough on him or something. Her lips were chapped and she probably had bad breath. She didn't want him to kiss her. "Stop it, Aaron, I'll get you sick."

"Never," Aaron drawled. "I want to spend as much time with you as possible before I go to college." Thea frowned. When he put it that way... "Now go to sleep."

"Noooo!" Thea whined, her voice cracking. She really shouldn't have been talking. Aaron laughed and his arms tightened around her.

"Fine, then. I'll sleep," he said.

"You should. You called me up again last night to read to you." Thea wiggled around a little until she was facing him. "What's wrong, Aaron? It's okay, you can tell me."

"There's nothing wrong," Aaron said. _Liar._

Thea clenched her hands into fists and stood up, reluctant to get out of Aaron's arms and swaying. "Why the hell are you lying to me? You've been saying that for two weeks now." Her throat burned so she had to work to lower her voice. "You haven't been sleeping and you were swaying on your feet at the beach yesterday!"

"I'm just nervous about college. That's all, Thea." Thea glared at him.

"You cried in my lap the other day!" Thea exclaimed. "You said that you felt like you were 'losing control of your body!' What does that even mean? ...I've never seen you cry before. Never. Tell me what's wrong." The last part was said with a furious determination, a frustrated glint in Thea's eyes. She glared at him for a moment before she started to cough and needed to lean on the bed. Aaron stood up and tried to help her back to the bed.

"Don't-touch-me," Thea gasped once she stopped coughing. She pushed him away.

"Thea," Aaron breathed. He looked hurt and guilty.

"No! Stop that!" Thea closed her eyes.

"Stop what?"

"That fucking puppy-dog face! Ugh!" Thea screamed. She opened her eyes and saw Aaron wince. She started to feel bad but she had to finish what she started, had to get this off of her chest.

"What do you want from me, Thea?" Aaron asked. He was too calm for Thea's liking.

"I want you to yell! To scream, to tell me what's wrong so I can try to help!"

"I can't tell you, Thea."

"Then you have to leave. I'm sorry."

"You're sick, Thea. If I leave you then you're mom will get pissed off with me." Aaron sighed.

"I'll call Brianna or Lynne. Just, please, leave." She couldn't look at him anymore. She didn't want to see the tears coming. "Please."

"Fine," Aaron said, his voice cracking. "I'm sorry." She heard his footsteps on the hardwood floor and the door slam shut. As soon as she heard the front door close-her ears were that good-she started to cry.

XxXxX

Thea sat up, glancing at the tombstone. She sighed. "Bye, Aaron." She turned and walked away. Once she got back to her car, she sat down for a minute and stared at her steering wheel, running a hand through her hair. Then her phone rang. Thea pulled it out of her pocket. She checked the caller ID and answered her phone, ignoring the fluttering in her chest.

"William," Thea murmured quietly. She bit her lip. Why was he calling? Homework? But, no, it couldn't have been because William made Elliot Lang look dumb and Elliot Lang was the smartest senior in their high school. Thea mentally slapped herself. She was making a big deal over nothing… But he was the nothing that all of the girls at school we still drooling over.

"Hi, Thea."

"What's up?" Thea asked.

"Oh, nothing really," William said quietly. Thea breathed in and ran a hand through her hair again, tugging on some of the strands so she would pay attention. God, that voice did something to her… "Are you busy?"

Thea thought about it for a moment. "No," Thea said slowly. "I don't have anything to do anymore." She thought that she was going to stay with Chuck for a little at the hospital while so she finished her homework and her projects over the week because she had nothing better to do. "Why?"

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go out for coffee later."

Two seconds after he said that Thea loudly and enthusiastically said, "Sure!" She rolled her eyes at herself. He might think that she had nothing better to do than sit around all day and stare at her phone until someone called her. _You need to calm down, Vega. It's coffee, not the stupid Prom. Chill, chill, chiiiill._ "When?"

"Can I pick you up in an hour?" William asked.

Thea thought about it for a second. It would take her eight minutes to get home from here, a couple minutes to explain to her parents who William was and, no, Jacob could not test him because he was only a _friend_, and change because she didn't feel like going out in her cutoffs and a Green Lantern t-shirt… "An hour's good," Thea said happily. "I'll see you later, William. Bye."

"Bye, Thea," William said, laughing. She hung up, put her keys in the car and started to drive home, humming along with the radio.

**Who can guess some of the TV shows I was talkin' about!**


	16. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**Thea**

When Thea walked through the front door, there was a large smile on her face. She felt like her face was cracking. She closed the door and nearly walked into Jacob, still humming.

"Well, hello there, Joker," Jacob said, chuckling. "Where's Batman?" Thea snorted and began tapping her foot impatiently against the hardwood floor because William was going to pick her up 45 minutes. If Jacob felt like it, he could keep this conversation going for a while.

"Shut it, Stepfather," Thea muttered, watching Jacob like one might watch a rabid dog whose leash was hooked onto a metal pole. "I'm still afraid that you'll kill me in my sleep. I sleep with my field hockey stick next to me and my metal baseball bat is close by too." Jacob glared at the mug of coffee he was holding.

"I don't look like Dylan Walsh!" Jacob exclaimed, throwing his free hand in the air. Thea snickered.

"Oh, you do... So, I'm going out for coffee in like 45 minutes with a guy from school. Tell Mom where I went, okay? She's walking Brick, right? She can call or text me if she has any concerns." Thea waved after Jacob nodded and ran up the stairs to her room. She checked her watch and noticed that she had 42 minutes... In her mind, that was a lot of time since she was only going to change and fix her hair a little...

"Hmm," Thea murmured as she went through her closet. She picked out a pair of blue skinny jeans, a white t-shirt and a magenta scarf with a pretty pattern that she borrowed from her grandma. _It's only coffee, nothing more... Right?_ She changed, throwing the clothes she was wearing before in her hamper. She went through her drawer and grabbed a pair of polka-dotted socks.

"Jacob!" Thea yelled as she ran down the stairs. She near tripped on the last step, slipping on the carpet.

"What do you need, Thea?" Jacob called from his spot on the couch. Thea rolled her eyes because he was watching _Sportscenter_ on ESPN. Some basketball player's stats were shown... Blah, blah, blah.

"Where are my boots?" Thea asked. "The cute black wedges." Jacob never looked away from the TV but when he finally did, he looked confused. "Booties, suede, black laces..." Thea began to rock back on her heels until he finally spoke.

"Teresa left them in our closet."

"Okay, thanks!" Thea yelled, running back upstairs. She put them on and walked back downstairs. "Are the boots too Fall-ish?" Thea asked.

"No, no," Jacob murmured, not looking away from the TV. Thea rolled her eyes and took off the boots and socks. Once she got back to her room, she put on a pair of ballet flats that matched her scarf. She braided two small pieces of hair on both sides of her head and tied them back. Then she put on a little chapstick, put on her contact lenses, and did her makeup, a subtle smoky eye. When she was done with everything, there was still 10 minutes left.

She went back down to the living room where Jacob was and plopped down on the sofa. After five minutes of staring at the TV cross-eyed and imitating the announcer on TV because she was impatient, Jacob asked, "You got your phone and your wallet?" Thea blinked and watched the TV normally.

Thea nodded. "In my pocket." She looked down at the tiny rectangle that stuck out from her jeans.

"Keys?"

"Other pocket." She patted her left front pocket and they jingled.

"Iron pills?" She totally knew that was coming.

"They're vitamins but yes, Jacob!" Thea groaned. Her iron pills were in a little pill case in her leather jacket. She would take them when she had the chance.

"Who are you going out with?" She knew that was coming too.

"William Thorne," Thea sighed. "He drove me home last week after I went to the hospital."

"The guy who lent you the sweatshirt?" Jacob looked at her and Thea looked back, not flinching. She arched an eyebrow and he arched both.

"Yessir," Thea said, still not looking away. "The sweatshirt that freaked you guys out so much. If you still don't believe me that was Chuck's blood on my thighs." Jacob blushed and turned back to the TV. _I win__._

The doorbell and she jumped up, grabbing her brown leather jacket from a peg near the front door. "Coming!" She opened the door and saw William standing there on her porch in a gray Adidas windbreaker and a pair of light blue jeans. _Oh, God, they look so _tight... Thea shivered._ Control your hormones, Vega! Don't be weird._

"Hey, William," Thea breathed.

"Hi, Thea. Ready to go?" He gave her a bright smile that made his blue eyes gleam and Thea could have sworn that her heart stopped for a just second. She nodded because if she opened her mouth, she might blurt out something stupid such as, "Oh my God, you look sexy!"

"Bye, Jacob!" Thea called. Jacob waved from the couch. "I'll be back later."

"Bring her back safe..." Jacob said sternly. William nodded solemnly. Thea was horrified. It wasn't a date! It was coffee! He only wanted to talk about how Chuck was doing! _Shut up, Jacob. Shut. Up!_

"I will, sir," William said, his tone serious. Thea snorted.

"_Te voy a hablar de eso más tarde_," Thea snarled at her stepfather. Jacob rolled his eyes but nodded and Thea closed the door. Thank goodness that Jacob understood Spanish.

"So did you want to go out for coffee or did you want to do something else?" William asked as he walked her to the car. The sun was lower in the sky and if you looked on the other side, you could see the moon. Thea stood there for a moment, admiring the view. She remembered that she had always thought that was really cool when she was little. He opened the car door for her and she sat down.

"Well, I'm not really in the mood for coffee," Thea said thoughtfully. She thought about it for a little while. William nodded and closed the door. Thea put on her seatbelt and William walked around to the other side. Once he got in and got himself settled in, Thea murmured hopefully, "This might sound really, really childish but can we go get ice cream?" William chuckled and nodded, starting the car and pulling out of her driveway.

XxXxX

"So, let me get this straight, he said that Aaron attacked him?" William asked. Thea nodded and moved her spoon around in her cup of mint chocolate chip ice cream, scraping the paper bottom.

"Mmmm-hmm," she muttered as she put the spoon in her mouth, trying not to moan because she hadn't had ice cream from Rita's in a really long time. God, it was so good! She licked her lower lip and stared into her cup for a really long time.

They were sitting next to each other on a bench at the park they went to the last time they hung out. There were people walking past them and Thea watched them while she and William ate their ice cream. At first, they made up the life-stories to go with a person; it was a good way to break whatever tension there was. They saw a young couple holding hands who looked a lot like how Thea pictured Jasper and Alice Cullen from _Twilight_ which made William laugh so hard that he nearly fell off of the bench. Then he pointed out a boy who looked too much like Justin Bieber when he started out, making Thea giggle. She mentioned an old woman who looked like she was waiting for someone and watching ducks in a pond.

"She's waiting for her love," Thea murmured. "Theodore Jackson Sr. He was a private who fought in the Vietnam War. She was a nurse and met him while tending to his wounds. It was love at first sight. They were married when the war was over and had 4 kids and 12 grandchildren." When she said that, the look in William's blue eyes was so far away. She looked at him for a long time and realized that she knew nothing about him, nothing real. She bit her lip.

Now they were talking about Thea visiting Chuck at the hospital.

"He wasn't drunk like most of the people at the party?" William asked. Thea looked up and noticed that he wasn't eating like he was before but instead was watching her lips as if they were the most fascinating thing on the planet. Thea blushed. _Why is he looking at me like that?_

"No," Thea mumbled, shifting awkwardly on the wooden bench at the park and tapping on her thigh because-_oh man_-he was so close to her. "Chuck was never really into things like drinking but I made them test his blood-alcohol levels anyway." She looked back to where the old woman was sitting and smiled when she noticed a tall, old man shuffle towards her. He kissed her on the cheek and she fixed his white hair.

"Really?" William asked softly. Thea looked back at him and scrunched up her nose. Maybe getting his blood-alcohol levels checked wasn't her best idea...or her most considerate.

"Yeah... I was worried and it didn't make sense. What he was saying, I mean." Thea had some more ice cream. "Chuck and Aaron had been best friends since preschool and I _knew_ him. Aaron would never hurt him. Never... And Chuck called Aaron an asshole. I had no idea what to say." Thea frowned. "The anger in his voice...it was just so unusual. I mean, yes, they called each other that but they were just joking around." Then Thea realized that she'd been talking for most of the time they'd been out, a full hour.

"I just don't know what to do..." Thea murmured. "I feel like I owe Aaron something..."

**William**

The look of anguish and confusion on Thea's face hurt him. Her brown eyes showed her frustrated and gleamed. He moved closer to her on the bench and ran his fingers across her cheekbones, enjoying the blush that moved there. He left his hand on the side of her face. "You don't owe him anything," William said quietly, the heat of her cheek burning into his hand. "Aaron's death is not your fault. It never has been, never will be." He dropped his hand back onto the bench so he was clutching the side.

Thea didn't say anything, just had more of her ice cream. William watched her with his lips parted and he began to lean closer... No. The last time he tried to kiss her, she was so surprised. For a moment, he actually thought that she was going to fall out of the stupid tree and hurt herself. Thea closed her eyes and took a deep breath. William stared at her for a long time, running his eyes over her lips… He had to control his lusty thoughts so he moved away but he could still feel the heat of her thigh near his, burning him. Was he on fire?

Thea had no idea what she was doing to him. Her blood, her body... He wanted her. All of her. William growled and Thea's brown eyes fluttered open and she turned back to the old couple. They smiled at her.

"Ah, young love," the man murmured.

"Reminds me of us," the woman whispered, leaning into his side. Thea blushed.

He watched as Thea walked away to throw out her empty ice cream cup and went to follow her because he didn't want to eat anymore of his. He threw it out and they stared at each other for a while until his throat started to burn.

"It is," Thea murmured finally. "The last day I saw him alive, I fought with him. He was acting weird all week, longer than that actually. I thought he was sick but after he killed himself, I looked up the signs. He was depressed." Thea frowned, plump lips turning down at the corners. He frowned because he wanted to kiss those lips but couldn't because she was vulnerable at the moment.

**Thea**

Was he going to kiss her on the bench?

He leaned forward and then he closed his eyes and...nothing. Ugh. Did she want him to kiss her? Yes…no…maybe… Yes. Thea blushed because it didn't matter if she wanted to kiss him because he might not want to kiss her. She turned her attention back to the situation at hand.

"Thea," William said. Thea watched his lips move but didn't hear the words that came out of his mouth. His lips looked so soft... _Thea, shut up! Listen to what he's saying!_ Her hand snuck up to her sleeve and she pinched her wrist so she would pay attention to him.

"I'm sorry," Thea said sheepishly. "Can you say that again?"

"It's not your fault," William enunciated. He placed his hand on her arm. "He chose to do that to himself."

"I know," Thea whispered. She didn't know why but when he said that, he made her feel better. It made her want to yell at him to say it again and again. She'd never heard more beautiful words in her life. Of course, her friends and family (Jacob and her mother because she never would have told her grandparents about her guilty conscience) had been saying that for a long time but she never paid attention because it was what they were supposed to say. When her friends and parents said it, it seemed real but never really sunk in until now.

"Good," William said quietly. Thea noticed that he was still staring at her lips. Maybe she had some ice cream on her face! She wiped at the corners of her mouth furiously with the napkin she had crumpled up in her fist. He chuckled and she glared at him, mumbling under her breath.

"Stupid Thea, he doesn't like you." She put the napkin in the pocket of her leather jacket and clenched her hands into fists, nails cutting into her skin. She stared at the ground, her shoes suddenly very interesting.

"On the contrary," William said softly. Thea looked up at him and smiled uneasily. He heard that?

"Um," Thea muttered awkwardly. She bit her lip. Did she hear him right?

The look on William's face was calculating and far away, brow furrowing and pink lips coming together in a straight line. She wanted to kiss those lips. "Tell me about your family," he said finally. I'll tell you my story when you tell me yours, Thea wanted to say.

"Well, the man you saw earlier was my stepfather." Thea snorted.

"He looks like the guy from that movie that came out a while ago with um... that guy from _90210_?" William murmured thoughtfully. "Dylan…Walsh?"

"The guy you're talking about is on _Gossip Girl_." Thea laughed. "So you see it too! Jacob's not as scary as the stepfather from the movie though… He's really supportive and he loves my mom with all his heart. It makes me want to cry sometimes. He's so good to us." She smiled. "Wanna go to our tree?"

William beamed at her. "Sure." They walked on, shoes whispering through the grass and shoulders bumping, and Thea listened to the crickets chirping and the water rushing down the stream. When she walked by the old couple and they smiled at them, looking wistful. Thea blushed. It wasn't like that, she wanted to scream. He was too good for her, too perfect. It was unsettling. Thea wasn't perfect. She knew that she had flaws. Her attitude was one of them-something that William hadn't seen yet-, her cynicism, and her dead boyfriend. But it seemed like William had none. She frowned and tugged at her jacket.

As if he could sense her inner turmoil, William reached out and grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. It was cool and he traced soothing circles on the back of her hand. She looked up at him and smiled. Once they got to the tree, it was darker than before but Thea couldn't see that many stars.

She sat down against the bark of the tree, leaning back until she was comfortable and William sat down next to her. She let go of his hand.

"What would you have been doing if I hadn't asked you to go out with me?" William asked quietly.

Thea didn't look at him when she answered because if she looked into his eyes, she might do something crazy. "Well, I would have eaten dinner, watched TV upside down while eating Craisins or croutons from the bag...and edited my essay for English. Nothing particularly amazing. How about you?"

"Well, I would have sat around and wondered why I hadn't asked you out." William chuckled softly. Thea nodded slowly and looked up at the sky, leaning around the leaves so she could see it better.

"Isn't it amazing," Thea sighed, "that some of the stars we see right now, have probably died out already? They're so far away that we wouldn't be able to tell until much later..." She stared at the sky, squinting so she could see the stars better.

"Amazing," William murmured. He turned to face her leaning closer and Thea turned around, taking a shaky breath because he was _thisclose_ to her. He cupped her face in his hands, gliding his thumbs over her cheekbones and she shivered. He was so cold. She placed her hands over his to try and warm them. He leaned closer until their lips almost touched. Thea closed her eyes.

Then he kissed her.

**A/N: Ha-ha! Cliffhanger! **

**("Te voy a hablar de eso más tarde" means "I'm going to talk to you about that later" or "I will talk to you about that later.") It's not the exact translation because certain Spanish phrases translated into English don't make sense and vice versa. Like if I said, "That guy is very hot," it would be "Ese muchacho es muy caliente," with the thingy over the last "e" in caliente. Then people would think that I was talking about the guy being warm, like he had a fever or something. It would be "guapo" if he's cute, attractive, or hot. Other times, something sounds nicer in Spanish and weird in English or vice versa. Like in that episode of _Modern Family._ I will be the wind in your back and not the spit in your face? Something like that... Anyway, BYE!**


	17. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

**Thea**

His lips were soft against hers. The kiss was sweet, gentle and only lasted a second or two but she found out that his lips were cold and tasted like coffee.._._and toothpaste. He smelled like soap, not cologne; something she didn't always like. Thea didn't know about him but her lips were tingling. She wanted to kiss him again. She began to wonder why William was so cold when she opened her eyes. His hands were still cupping her face.

He looked frightened and nervous, a look that didn't suit him as well as charming and confident did. Why? "Thea, I'm-" To calm him down, she leaned over to capture his lips in a kiss. Soft, smooth. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she wrapped hers around his neck. He held her against his strong chest. Once she let him go, he beamed at her. Their noses were touching and he tilted his chin down a little until their lips were touching again.

"So much better than Craisins," Thea breathed. William chuckled, his breath cool on her lips.

"So soft," he murmured. He ran his thumb across lips, sending tingles down her spine. Then something in his blue eyes changed when he ran his fingers across her cheekbones. "So fragile." The way he said it, made it seem like she wasn't meant to hear it.

"I like you, William," Thea said quietly. She felt like it went without saying but if she hadn't said it, he might have been confused. There was a long pause and Thea's heart started to beat faster. _I knew it; he doesn't like me… I'm a bad kisser… Maybe he doesn't like me… He's the one who leaned in the first few times…you pushed him away… It's probably too late now._

"I like you, too, Thea." She let out a breath that she hadn't known she'd been holding. Oh, she loved the way her name rolled off his tongue. It sounded like a caress. She leaned into him; his arms still wrapped around her waist and she leaned back against his hard chest. She didn't know how long they sat there like that, with him holding her, his chin resting on her head and her face tilted up towards the night sky but her phone ruined the peaceful moment. Her mom sent her a text.

"I'm sorry. I know it's rude to check your phone while you're with someone but it's my mom." She wiggled a little so she could get her phone out of her pocket.

"It's fine," William said softly. His arms detached from her waist and he looked up at the sky. Thea checked the text message and rolled her eyes. Jacob was such a gossip.

_Jacob told me you're on a DATE... ;-) Tell me about it later? Don't forget to take your pill. Love you._

She sighed-she hated it when her family called her iron supplements 'the pill' because it made her sound like she was crazy and needed medication or that she was taking a birth-control pill- and quickly typed out a response.

_Got it, Mom. I'll take the IRON SUPPLEMENT in a minute. Not really sure if it's a date per se... =/ I'll tell u about it later. Love u too. -T_

"Do you think that I can still buy a bottle of water at the little hut-thingy by the lake?" Thea asked. William turned his head and looked at her quizzically.

"I'm not sure, why? Are you thirsty?"

"Oh, no. I just have to take my iron supplement. I'd take it with some from the water fountain but...they kinda freak me out. Germy, you know..." William didn't move or respond to what she said. He just stared at her with a look of dread on his face. His jaw was clenched tight, his teeth were grinding together and there was a muscle twitching in his sharp jaw. This wasn't the normal reaction to anyone finding out... She never really thought of it as a big deal when the doctor told her.

"Are you anemic?" he bit out through clenched teeth.

She nodded hesitantly. "Yeah but it's okay... I'm not very sick. I just have to have a more 'iron-enriched diet' and then I'll be fine." She smiled at him and he tried to smile back but it didn't reach his eyes. She noticed that they were darker... Why was he mad? "So, I need to take my iron supplement..."

"Oh, well there's a bottle of water in my car," William said in a rush. He looked frantic and panicked, tapping his foot on the ground. She nodded and stood up.

**William**

Anemic. She was freakin' anemic and he drank from her... It was a month ago and he didn't know but still! He should have been more careful. He must have taken a lot from her that night. It was amazing that she didn't collapse after the try-outs._ The cruel irony of this situation should be either making me laugh or scream out in frustration… I'm not doing either…_

They walked in silence together to his car. He refused to speak, jaw still clenched shut. All he wanted to do right now was run. He couldn't stand the guilt. It began to eat away at him... Once they got there, he unlocked the door and gave the bottle of water to her, careful not to touch her.

"Still cold," he said. Thea nodded and took a sip, her full lips wrapping around the opening... Damn it, what was his _problem_? Couldn't he control his lust-filled thoughts for one agonizing and guilt-filled moment?

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a little travel pill case with black and white designs on the front. His vision was starting to get hazy once she took her pill. She took another sip and gave him the water bottle. He flinched when they're fingers brushed. He looked up and saw her watching him. When he looked at her, she looked down.

"Thanks."

William nodded and checked his phone. It was eight o'clock. He wanted to stay with her but he felt like he wouldn't be happy with what happened later on... He couldn't control his actions right now. He should have fed last night. At that thought, William winced because he was reminded that he fed from the girl he was in love with... The girl who had anemia... _Smart pick, Liam. _God, he was such an _idiot_!

"Thea, I'm not feeling well..." Oh, damn. She looked worried and he knew that look in her eyes. It was a combination of the look she got whenever she remembered something about Aaron and the look she got when she was taking care of Chuck at the party. Before she could speak, he said, "I'm fine. It's just a headache. Is it okay if I take you home early?" She nodded and he opened the car door for her again. She sat down and faced the windshield, expression intense as he closed the door.

William got in the car and drove out of the parking lot, noticing that Thea turned away from him and faced the door. _Brilliant_, he thought sarcastically. He hurt her feelings. Why not kick a dog while he was at it? Or steal money from a charity.

"Thea?" She didn't say anything until he stopped in front of her house.

"Goodnight, William," she said stiffly. She opened the door and walked out, not looking at him. When she turned around, he thought he saw tears in her eyes. She waved unenthusiastically and turned back to the door. "Craisins, here I come," she muttered as she rubbed her eyes. William sighed and drove away.

**Thea**

The second Thea opened the door, she saw her mother sitting on the couch and watching TV in her pajamas (one of Jacob's old t-shirts) with her tan legs resting on a pillow. She walked over and plopped down near her mother, taking off her jacket and her shoes and resting her head on the armrest of the sofa.

"Hi, mom," Thea said in a small voice. She hadn't sounded this young since Aaron died.

"Hey, babe," her mom said. "How was the…?" But the question died in her throat after she caught sight of Thea's face. "What happened, Thea?"

"I don't know," she mumbled. She rubbed at the tears in her eyes and tried not to blink. If she blinked they would really fall. Her mother lowered the volume on the TV.

"What the hell do you mean? 'I don't know'?"

"He kissed me," Thea said softly. "Twice. Then when I told him that I needed water to take my iron supplement, he got angry. He asked if I had anemia and there was this weird expression on his face." She ran her finger over her lips and jumped up. "I'mgoingupstairstochange."

Teresa shook her head sadly. "Aww, babe. Maybe, he doesn't know what anemia is." Thea shook her head and ran upstairs to her room.

"What happened to Thea?" Jacob asked from downstairs. Thea stopped at the top step and listened.

"I'm not sure, Jake."


	18. Chapter 15

**I'm sooooooooo sorry for not updating! I would have done it yesterday but I had a field hockey game in the freezing cold. (We lost. Again. And my lungs hurt like hell, man...) My internet and cable were down because my mom couldn't pay the cable bill and blah, blah, blah. Always the same excuse, right? But anyway, my mom got the Clear internet-WiFi box thing last week so now we have internet but no cable... So I can upload now! Well, this is kind of a slow chapter; just a filler. I wanted to add a new character to the plot. ...ON WITH THE STORY!**

**Chapter 15**

**Thea**

"_Mom_," Thea groaned into the phone. "I'm fine!"

"But, last night you…" Thea rolled her eyes and took a bite of her cereal, crunching loudly. Her mother and Jacob left earlier that morning for a little getaway at the Great Wolf Lodge for their 4th wedding anniversary. She practically had to shove them out the door. They were worried about her.

"Last night I was annoyed and hormonal," Thea grumbled, "but now I am FINE! Quit wasting your battery by calling me and play a game or something. Love you. Tell Jacob to put on his glasses so he can read the directions."

"Fine, Thea," her mother sighed. Thea could picture her rolling her eyes. "Love you, too."

"Love you, Thea," Jacob yelled. "Lock all the doors and call us when you get back from babysitting Opal."

"I know," Thea groaned. "You guys worry too much. I have pepper spray."

"Keep your candy cane…I mean _field hockey __stick_ by your bed," Jacob said, laughter booming in the car.

"Always do, Jake. Bye, guys." Thea hung up once they all said their goodbyes for the afternoon. She stared blankly at the TV and had another spoonful of her cereal. Was it sad that she was 18 years old, legally an adult and able to buy lottery tickets, and watching _Big __Time __Rush_ on a sunny Sunday morning in her fluffy Betty Boop "lounge shorts"?

"Uh-uh-uh-uh-ohhhh."

"Very sad," Thea murmured as she watched Jo and Kendal give each other a kiss goodbye. That kiss reminded her of last night with William and she rubbed at her stinging eyes. She felt awkward and frustrated. Last night, after she listened to Jacob and her mother speak briefly about what happened, she changed into her shorts and old t-shirt. As she took off her make-up, she started to cry and blamed it on her contacts which she then took off quickly took off. Then she went to bed and got up the next morning to watch some TV.

_God, my life is so boring. It's embarrassing._

She looked took another bite of her chocolaty cereal and watched as Carlos, wearing his hockey helmet as was the norm, threw bowling balls down the slide in their apartment-slash-hotel room. Gustavo's assistant, Kelly, jumped up to dodge one and landed in a karate pose, while speaking to Logan about getting rid of said helmet because he brought it to the dinner table and wore it during photo shoots. Thea snickered. She loved this episode and had always thought Carlos was cute.

Once the commercial with the song they sang in that episode came on, the doorbell rang twice urgently. Thea adjusted her glasses and got up, wondering who it was. It couldn't be Jacob and her mother. Maybe it was her older brother, Dave. Her mom probably sent him to check on her or something.

"Pa-ris, London, Tokyo. There's just one thing that I gotta to do..." Thea hummed. She slid on the wooden floor in her purple socks and nearly passed the door but she grabbed the knob and nearly fell on her ass. "Coming!"

"Oh wow," Thea murmured as she got the door open. "I got the 'or something' part right." On her porch was a tall, beautiful and very leggy blonde in a pair of tight jeans, high heels, and a black corset top with a blue blouse underneath who was clutching a paper in her hand. Her shoulders were thrown back and she oozed confidence. Thea blinked a few times. Suddenly, Thea felt inadequate in her pajama shorts and Yankees t-shirt.

Umm... Why was there a model ringing her doorbell at 11 am?_America__'__s __Next __Top __Model_ didn't start until a few months from now and she sure as hell wasn't Tyra Banks; Thea wasn't tall enough.

"May I help you?" Thea asked politely and unsurely. The blonde girl looked like she was scrutinizing her. Thea didn't like that. She leaned into the door casually so it closed slightly.

"Are you Althea Vega?" the girl asked. Her voice was soft but her blue eyes were hard with some kind of determination.

"Mmm-hmmm," Thea said cautiously. "But everyone calls me 'Thea.'" She told her that because sometimes people took it upon themselves to call her Ally and Thea knew three other girls with the same name.

"Oh, yes. He told me that," the girl murmured to herself. "I'm Tina... You were the girl who found Aaron when he... _died_." It wasn't a question; it was a statement. Thea's eyes widened. Now, she really didn't feel like talking to her. How did she know about that? Not many people did.

"I'm sorry," Thea said stiffly. "Should I know you?"

"I'm the girl Aaron cheated on you with." _That __was __blunt. Usually I like that kind of thing but now I want to slap her._ Thea blinked a few times again and resisted the urge to close the door on Tina. Instead she walked outside, threw her shoulders back confidently and arched an eyebrow.

"Ex-_cuse_ me?" Thea said slowly. "What?"

"I'm the girl that Aaron cheated on you with."

From the house she heard, "uh-uh-uh-uh-ohhhh" because even _Big __Time __Rush_ knew that this was a problem. Thea stood up straighter and began to assess this girl.

_Tina._

Aaron had mentioned a Tina once… He called Thea that by accident and covered it up with some lame excuse. Of, course. Tina was prettier than her, taller, blonde, and perky-looking in all the right places. Her features were clean-cut and her skin was pale and flawless. It was easy to tell she was pretty.

"And you're coming here-_to __my __house_-to tell me this? Seven months after he died?" Thea stared at her, her brown eyes boring into Tina's blue. Aaron always said he liked her brown eyes, that blue and green eyes were overrated and that people didn't write enough songs about brown eyes. _That __sappy, __lying __bastard. __I __can__'__t __believe __him!__Are __they __all __the __same? __Always __looking __for __some __perky __blonde __with __a __perfect __tennis __butt? __Damn __it!_

"Yes," Tina said. She tucked a strand of her long blonde hair behind one ear. Thea noticed that her nails were blue. _Like __William__'__s __eyes__…_

"Why?" Thea said in a small voice. She slid one foot around the porch, noticing some leaves. She brushed them away with her foot.

"Because I thought that you should know," she said softly.

"Seven months after he died?" Thea confirmed. Tina nodded. _I __kinda __want __to __hit __this __girl__…_ "How long had that been going on?" What the hell was she supposed to say? She wasn't in the mood to scream and she was tired after last night's attempt at going out with a guy. And if she didn't get away from this girl soon, she would start to cry.

"For eight months before he died," she said softly. "But I broke it off with him when I found out that he was dating you." Thea nodded and snuck a hand behind her to put on the doorknob, turning it slightly until her knuckles started to hurt.

"Um, thanks for telling me…Tina... Now if you'll excuse me..." She looked closer and saw that the paper that Tina hand in her hand were directions to her house from Map Quest. "Do you know how to get home?" Tina nodded and held up the directions. "Okay, um, bye." Thea opened the door and stepped inside.

"Wait!" Tina called when the door was half-closed. Thea turned to her and rubbed her eyes, opening the door wide enough to stick her head out the door.

"Yes?" She sniffled. _Ugh, __Thea, __don__'__t __make __yourself __look __pathetic._

"Thanks for not yelling at me," Tina said quietly. "Or slapping me...or doing anything that usually happens on _Jerry__Springer_." She had always hated that show anyway. Thea laughed softly to herself and Tina looked scared for a minute. _Yeah, __be __afraid __because __if __I __find __out __that __you showed up here and __lied to my face, __I__'__ll __kick __your __little, __tennis-playing __ass._

"Bye." She went back inside and closed the door. Once she heard a car drive away, she screamed and sank down to the floor. Still screaming, Thea picked up a throw pillow from the couch and held it to her face so no one could hear her screams.

All of the tears she'd been holding in from yesterday finally came out. She sobbed, arms wrapped around herself. When she finally got up, it was because a commercial for a new Barbie movie that just came out on DVD today and was reminded of the fact that she had to babysit Opal tonight.

"God," Thea sniffled to herself. "I need to man up. This happens to girls all the time. If I let myself cry for a little while, I'll be fine but I have to get up and go." She rubbed her eyes and turned off the TV, leaving the bowl of soggy cereal on the table. After allowing herself a few more tears, Thea gritted her teeth, stood up straighter, and went upstairs to take a shower and get dressed.

"Uh-uh-uh-uh-ohhhh," she mumbled sadly.


	19. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

**William & Thea**

As soon as William gave up on trying to sleep, his cell phone rang. It was Thea's friend, Katt, the girl who gave him Thea's phone number. He sighed and rolled over so he was facing his cell phone. He couldn't just let it ring, could he? He knew she was persistent and would keep trying.

William knew that she was going to yell at him. He had been expecting this; they all were very protective of Thea, especially after what Aaron did to himself. He knew from observation (and Thea) that she and Katt were the most protective of them all. The vampire answered the phone and braced himself as one would when there was a gun pointed to their head or a dangerous animal nearing towards them.

"Hello, Katt," William said absent-mindedly. "What can I do for you on such a fine evening?" Leaning against his elbow, he spoke and his voice sounded low and casually detached.

"I want you to answer a question," she snapped. "Why did you kiss Thea then go all distant on her? Wait-don't even bother telling me why! I can't believe you, selfish son of a bitch! What the hell is wrong with you? Are you _blind_?" Well, she had his attention now. William sat straight up in his bed, blue eyes widening in shock.

"Katt…" William was alarmed now. This girl was forward; more forward than he'd even known a woman could be. A woman had never yelled at him like this… "I'm sorry, okay?"

"Don't tell _me_ that!" the girl growled. "Tell _her_ that, William Thorne! Do you know that she was crying?" _Thea __was __crying __because __of __what _I _did? __Well, __I __am __officially __a __bastard._ "She likes you a lot, more than she'll admit to anyone, even herself. She told you that she likes you and…" Katt used a few choice swear words in Spanish that he hadn't heard in a while.

"Katt…I…" William was at a loss for words. Right now all he was capable of doing was opening and closing his mouth over and over. The only connection he could make was that he probably looked like a fish gasping for breath.

"God!" Katt seethed. "Can you even imagine how she feels, William? She finds her boyfriend dead; he killed himself. Half a year later comes this 'gorgeous guy with eyes that remind me of a night sky' that treats her like Thea, the goofy, sarcastic girl that we all love, not Thea, the ex-girlfriend of the almost-was college freshman who killed himself over the summer! She starts to like the 'gorgeous guy' and a month or two later…BAM! He kisses her twice then makes a crappy excuse after said kiss and drops her off at her house early. Thea already feels like shit because she thinks that Aaron killed himself because of her and now you, YOU, William Thorne, have kissed her and immediately left her at home. You might as well have driven off and left her there."

"She's anemic," William said pathetically. He ran a hand through his ebony hair then yanked at it from the roots, trying to cause himself pain.

He held the phone away from his ear after lowering the volume of the call until it was nearly all the way down. Katt's yelling was going to make him deaf. Even if he was a vampire, he could only take so much screaming.

"Shut up!" Katt shouted. "I'm not _done_ yet, dammit. Do you know how long it took us to get her to speak to us, William? To eat food? A helluva long time! She was so guilty and you made her forget everything. Then you take it away. I know that you only did one little thing but that one little thing made her cry. And I resent you for that." Was it just him or were Thea's friends starting to sound more and more like her?

"I'm sorry!" William said.

"Tell. Her. That."

"I will," William said compliantly.

"You know," Katt said, her voice no longer holding hostility, "she stopped crying when she heard their song on the radio after she met you… She even sings along to love songs now." William was sure that if his heart could beat, it would be swollen, filled with emotion. His presence had affected that much?

There was a meaningful pause as Katt let her words sink in then she said, "You can go die in a hole now. Goodbye."

Katt had hung up on him.

_I __have __to __see __her. __I __have __to __apologize._ She was probably sleeping if she wasn't still babysitting Opal… If he couldn't see her, he would call her. Picking up his phone, he pressed the two, Thea's speed dial.

"Pick up, pick up," William chanted.

**XxXxX**

"Thea," Opal mumbled from her under the covers, her voice sleepy, "tell me a bedtime story." Thea sighed heavily then yawned. If she told Opal a bedtime story, the little girl would never go to sleep, Thea would have to walk home in the dark, and she would jump at every sound she heard.

"Which one? Sleeping Beauty? Snow White?" Opal shook her little red head. "One of the stories I made up then?" She nodded. "Do you want to hear the Rapunzel story?" She nodded again then yawned.

Thea began the story.

"'So you want a haircut?' I asked, skeptically holding up a lock of the fairy's already-short blonde hair. It was hard to take this woman seriously, if she even _was_ a woman. My client looked like a little kid, swinging her short legs as she sat on her chair. I was tempted to put my foot on the pedal and make it go low so she would stop the distracting movement. It was making the cape I had draped over her body flap.'"

"What does 'skeptically' mean again and how is it spelled?" Opal asked.

"Skeptically means doubtfully or suspiciously," Thea said. "It is spelled, S-k-e-p-t-i-c-a-l-l-y."

"'Kay," Opal said. Thea continued the story as her phone started to ring. The ringtone suggested that it was William, calling for the second time that night. She wasn't in the mood to speak to him or anyone. It was a good thing that Mom and Jake were gone because she probably would have been unintentionally rude to them. Thea was still trying to get over the fact that Aaron had been cheating on her for such a long time and with such a beautiful girl.

Two seconds after her phone started to ring again, she set it to vibrate and continued the story until she heard Opal's soft snoring. It kept ringing, as she tucked Opal in, when Mrs. Bennett came back and paid her for the night. It rang as she was offered a ride home and as Thea said there were only a few blocks separating their houses. William called again as she walked home and even while she was in the shower. The frustrated girl finally shoved her phone in her underwear drawer after she changed into a pair of flannel pajamas. She called her mom and Jacob and then ordered Chinese food from the place across town from the house phone.

_Damn, __this __guy __is __persistent, _Thea thought to herself as she sat on her couch, eating her dumplings, with Brick sleeping near her. She flipped through the channels and tried her best to ignore the phone's incessant ringing. William should know that Thea didn't want to talk to him over the phone; she wanted to see him face-to-face so she could explain why she wasn't answering.

The phone rang again this time but the ringtone was different. It was her brother, she realized as she opened the drawer. Thea was surprised; her older brother rarely initiated contact first, not even on her birthday. She didn't know when it was, possibly after Aaron's suicide or maybe when her brother grew older and became more of an adult, but he started checking in more and more. They were never really that close, not as much as Thea and her younger brother were, but she was his sister and she loved him.

"Hello, Brother," Thea said warily into the phone. "You needed something?"

"Hey, Thea. I'm just checking in," her brother said in a tone similar to her own. She glanced at a picture on her desk of her standing between her brothers with her arms around them. She was smiling gleefully, as if it wasn't weird that her dad wanted a picture of the three of them in front of Shop & Stop. It was after they went out to the movies. _Ah, the old days. I miss them._ "Teresa told me that she and Jacob are at Great Wolf Lodge." Thea nodded, as if he could see her.

"I'm fine," she sighed quietly.

"You say that now. We know how you get. Little sister's afraid of the dark."

"Hush up," she snapped. "I'm not five anymore." She heard the 28-year-old laugh quietly. It was times like these where she remembered the things they had in common: their facial expressions, the similarities of their voice and laughter. They were things that their father brought up all the freaking time, as if she were questioning whether or not they were all related. It bothered her sometimes but she kept her mouth shut.

"Anyway," Dave said, once he stopped laughing, "I had tried to call you, but the line was busy."

"Oh. Well, some guy was blowing up my phone," Thea said dismissively, staring at the TV.

"Interesting choice of words."

"It's the only time where this phrase applies." The phone beeped to show that she had another call. William. Again. "There he is again."

"You should talk to him."

"I don't wanna," Thea grumbled. "I'm mad at him."

"Fine," her brother said, laughing again, "was also calling because my girlfriend wants to meet you. Do you want to go out to lunch with us tomorrow at Applebee's?"

"S-sure!" Thea said, blinking in surprise. _How __weird._ _He __wants __me __to __meet __her._ "Her name is Rachel, right?"

"Yeah, do you want to meet us there or do you want me to pick you up?"

Thea quietly said that she would drive herself and mumbled a goodbye to her brother.

"Love you," she said.

"Love you, too, Thea," her brother said. She was about to hang up the phone when her brother said, "Answer his call, okay?"

"Fine." She hung up. Then there was another call; it was Katt.

"Hey," Thea said, her voice tired. "Man, I am so beat and William keeps calling me. It's annoying."

"That might be my fault, sweets," Katt said. "I called him to yell at him. I sort of told him that you were crying."

"WHAT?" Thea shrieked. Brick stirred and raised his head, then he scooted closer to her and waved his paw at her as if to say, _Shhh, __calm __down __and __shut __up._ "Goddamn it, Katrina! I cannot believe you! I would have expected this kind of thing from Brianna but not you!" The dog yelped and inched away. "Oops, so sorry, doggy."

"You sound like your mother," Katt snickered. Ugh, nobody ever took Thea's anger seriously. She pouted and crossed her arms over her chest.

"God, I really want to hit you right now," Thea mumbled, as she petted her dog to keep herself from punching something. She stared at the TV blankly.

"I'm sorry," Katt squeaked.

"God, you had better be," Thea said. "Now I'm seriously not answering his call. Screw him."

"Why?" Katt questioned, her voice taking on a lilt that suggested that she doubted her friend's power to ignore the extremely sexy boy.

"William Thorne is not apologizing because he's genuinely sorry," Thea explained. "It's because you yelled at him."

"Oh, please."

"Hmmph. I gotta go but I'll call you back, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." As soon as Katt hung up, the phone rang again. This time it was William.

"Screw him," Thea mumbled as she continued to eat her Chinese food. "Screw him."


	20. Chapter 17

**Sorry for the late update. it was my birthday last week and I had everything written down in a notebook (I was writing this chapter during some of my classes, hehe) but I didn't feel like typing it up… then my grandma's birthday was four days after mine, so I started typing it up after that. I just finished today. Anyway… READ ON!**

**Chapter 17**

**William & Thea**

"She won't answer her phone… Serves me right." William rubbed his chin thoughtfully, the stubble scraping his hand. He was already outside, two houses away from hers. How scared would she be if he just showed up to demand that she answer the phone?

From her bedroom window, he could see that she had been picking out something to wear for tomorrow. There was a lacey black skirt, a long cream-colored cardigan, purple sweatshirt with black hearts on it, a multitude of tops, a denim skirt, and jean jacket, with black lace on the shoulders, on her bed.

He didn't know where she was now, probably watching TV in the living room or asleep on the brown couch with her body curled around a book. William walked closer to her house, shimmied up the side and climbed in through her window. After leaving her room, he walked down the stairs to living room and absent-mindedly gazed at the framed pictures of her and her mother progressing through the years. Her stepfather, Jacob, began to show up in the pictures around Thea's later years, when she was 14 or 15.

_Well_, William thought, _I __was __right._ Thea was asleep on the odd part of the couch that was shaped like a curve. The dog was sleeping next to her. He sighed because she was going to hurt her back sleeping like that. The vampire scooped her up into his arms easily and walked upstairs to her room, marveling about how her warm body fit perfectly into his arms.

Once William got her inside, he turned off the light, moved the clothes to one side of the bed, and pushed back the covers. She cuddled closer to his body, and he was sad when he had to tuck her in. When she rolled over and swung her leg to one side, the side where the clothes were, he laughed and moved the clothes the rest to the window seat. After kissing her forehead, he sat down on the computer chair to keep a good view of her.

He began to hum a tuneless song, a mixture of many different songs that he couldn't place, as Thea slept, making cute little noises. Two minutes later, Thea's dog walked into the room through a sliver of light by the door. The dog and the vampire stared at each other, unblinking.

_Don__'__t __bark,_ William thought towards the dog. Brick complied, tilting his head.

After a while, Thea's slow breathing stopped and he could hear her heartbeat picked up. _She __must __be __having __an __interesting __dream._ She tensed in the bed then William made a muffled noise that sounded like a sigh or an intake of breath.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my room?" Thea whispered cautiously, her voice steady. She reached out then flung something towards William's head, shrouded in shadow. He caught it easily and thought about running. He felt what she threw in his hand, tossing it back and forth in his hands. A magic eight ball?

"_Shit_,"William whispered through clenched teeth. He had been caught. If his heart could still beat, it would be pounding right now as he tried to come up with a way to explain what he was doing in her room.

William shook the magic eight ball and it said, _yes_. He laughed and the sound was mirthless.

"Get out or I'll kick your ass," Thea said as she jumped out of the bed and turned the bedside lamp. She had an orange field hockey stick in her hands-he completely forgot that she kept it near her bed while she slept. Her jaw was clenched tight and her pretty lips were shut tight. "W-William?" Her lips fell open in shock and she took a careful step back. It would have been silly to gaze at her wordlessly at a time like this but she looked beautiful and wild with her hair loose and an angry look in her brown eyes, like a huntress preparing to attack her prey.

"Thea," he said softly. "It's only me, it's okay." He tried his best to soothe her but she wouldn't have it.

"What the hell? Get out of my room before I call the cops," she yelled. Then she mumbled, "I'll have to whack him in the legs with this thing so he can't get away." She swung it and William ran out of room and out the door, too quick for her to see.

"He's…_gone_," Thea mumbled, her grip on the field hockey stick loosening. "That was unbelievable. How did that happen?" It was almost…

_Inhuman._

William Thorne wasn't human, was he? It didn't seem rational if she thought about it, but it felt right to her. He wasn't human. It explained how easily got into her house, how he made no noise. It seemed like he wasn't breathing sometimes, like he forgot. Even though she hadn't joined Thea knew from watching some practices that when he ran, it was effortless for him. It seemed like he had no trouble at all. His face wouldn't turn red, and his breathing wouldn't change like some of the other boys on the team. Thea always thought it was because he must have been training for a while but he wasn't human.

_He__'__s __not __human_, Thea repeated in her head. There had to be other clues, better clues, and even though Thea couldn't think of any at the moment, she felt like it was true, _right_. She laid back on the bed and her head made a soft _thud_ when it hit the pillow. _He__'__s __a __vampire. __The __dream __I __had __the __night __before __I __met __him__… __He __drank __my __blood!_ She started to feel sick. That must have been why he got so mad when she told him that she was anemic.

Thea knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep now. She sat up in the bed, and grabbed a book from her bedside table, and began to read.

Thea read until 6 am, when she finished the book, and got up to eat breakfast. When she was done, she took a shower and changed into some sweats before she had to go out to lunch with Dave and Rachel. She was wearing her glasses because her eyes hurt. Of course she was stupid enough to sleep with contacts on last night.

She fell asleep on the couch and woke up at eleven thirty.

"Damn it!" she yelled.

Thea jumped off of the couch, and ran to her room to put on a black skirt, cropped denim jacket, and a purple tank top. After getting her purse, she ran out the door and got in the car, ignoring the gravel against her bare feet and called her brother to tell him that she was on her way there.

"Crap," she realized as when she was already by the restaurant. She opened her glove compartment and pulled out a pair of fast flats. She always did stuff like this when she was in a hurry. "Can't believe that I forgot my shoes again."

**XxXxX**

"So, Thea," Rachel said as she rested her cheek on her hand, "Dave told me that you're going to UCLA this summer. You don't peg me for the UCLA type." She took a sip of her soda, politely observing then nodding to herself at her statement.

"That's what I told my friend when she forced me into a pact with our other friend," Thea said as she laughed. "She said in a college so big, I should find at least _one_ person who's even a little bit like me. Personally, I don't think it's possible. I wanted to go to Syracuse, but I doubt that I can find anyone like me there either. I mean, where else can you find a girl who runs out of the house without shoes on and doesn't realize until after she's already where she was supposed to be?" She pushed her glasses up her nose smiled sheepishly.

"I've done that before but you were barefoot, weren't you?" Rachel asked. Thea nodded sheepishly. Her brother and his girlfriend laughed. "Fast flats, a girl's best friend."

"And you didn't notice?" her brother inquired.

"Nope," Thea said. "I was in a hurry so I ran out the door… Across gravel and wet grass."

"That's weird, Thea."

"I know right?" she said. "I was completely oblivious. I guess I had other things on my mind." She took a sip of her root beer. They were out of Dr. Pepper.

"Like the boy who was calling you?" Dave asked knowingly.

"Sort of," Thea sighed. "I don't want to talk about him right now." She smiled at Rachel who quickly changed topics. Thea decided that she liked this girl. She was nice and seemed funny and understood how Thea thought.

She had never met any of her brother's girlfriends except for this one but he seemed serious about her. It made her heart ache a little when he would touch Rachel's shoulder when he laughed, those intimate little touches that couples share when they're very close, she and Aaron had done that. Hell, even her and William did that. She frowned and took a sip of her soda again.

"Why?" Dave asked. Thea looked away from his searching eyes and towards the bar where she saw a familiar black head. _Damn.__William._He was gulping his beer like it was water and signaling for another one. He was drinking? But he was under-aged.

"Does she really need a reason?" Rachel asked him. She turned her head and winked so that only Thea could see. She smiled gratefully at her brother's girlfriend. Dave shrugged at her, resting a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder and absently kissing her cheek. Thea was starting to feel sick. It was too hot in this restaurant. She took off her jacket and placed it next to her purse.

"If you'll excuse me," Thea said swiftly. "I'll be right back. I have to use the bathroom." _To __escape __from __William, __who __may __or __may __not __be __stalking __me._

"O-okay," her brother said. He looked at her carefully, in a way that Thea knew all too well. Everyone pitied her. Damn. "Are you okay?" He was concerned; Thea didn't like that.

"Yeah, everything's great!" Thea stood up and walked away.

"She's not okay," Rachel mumbled to her brother. "She seems nervous now."

Thea didn't stay near the table long enough to hear her brother's low reply. She weaved around tables, avoiding a familiar ebony-haired person drinking beer at the bar. She tried her best not to attract attention to herself but she still felt a pair of eyes on her as practically she flung herself into the bathroom.

"Phew," she murmured, wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead. It was too hot in the bathroom. She splashed her face with water and dried it off. For something to do she tried to fix her hair a little but instead she just left it loose and curly like she had it before. Her thoughts were frantic and afraid as she began to braid a small strand of her hair, a nervous habit that she had developed recently. All of her thoughts were about William.

Why was he at the same restaurant as her? And at the same time, too. The rational part of her brain briefly considered, as she tied off the braid she finished and began another one, the fact that it could just happen to be one of those ironic coincidences in life-even supernatural creatures had to eat too, right-but there were plenty of bars in her town. If he wanted a drink, surely he could go there instead of Applebee's.

The irrational part of her that constantly read and wrote vampire stories was going wild with crazy scenarios. Maybe he had been following her for years and planned on killing her…drinking her blood? He might have…

_Ugh_, Thea thought to the rational and irrational parts of her brain. _Shut __up __already, __will __you?__He__'__s __human._

_Liar,_the irrational part of her brain spat. She glanced at her face in the mirror, tied off the thin braid she had just finished, and walked out the door with a sudden determination and need for confrontation towards William's spot at the bar.

"What are you doing here?" she spat. William looked at her evenly, and she glared at him.

"Hello, Thea," he said, taking a sip of his beer. "You very look nice today. Ravishing, really." He leaned in to give her a kiss but she flinched and backed away, keeping a safe distance.

"I look nice everyday," she said stiffly. William laughed, tilting his head forward and slapping his hand down on the bar counter, making the foam from his beer spill. Everything was insanely funny when you were drunk. She had only gotten drunk once at a party, and regretted it immediately (before her mother and Jacob scolded her), but she had laughed at practically everything before she ran to the bathroom to throw up. "What are you doing here?"

"Having a drink," he replied solemnly, taking another sip of his beer as if to punctuate this statement. Thea snorted.

"You're under-aged." The bartender eyed them warily, serving a man next to them beer. She noticed that the bartender's hand twitched like he was about to snatch the beer away from him. "Besides, who drinks this early if they aren't an alcoholic? It isn't even happy hour yet for Christ's sake."

"Actually," William stated calmly, "I'm twenty-one." He had more of his beer then signaled for the bartender to bring him another. He complied.

"Are you following me?" Thea demanded. "Tell me the truth!" William hesitated but there must have been something in her eyes, a tiredness or frustration, because he answered her question.

"Yes," he replied. "I am." Thea let out a loud sigh then rested her head her hands.

"I have to leave," Thea mumbled to herself.

"Thea, what's wrong?" William reached out and touched her bare shoulder. She felt a jolt go through her and looked into his eyes. _Oh, __those __blue __eyes__…_ Noticing her visible relaxation, William bent down to kiss her lips; Thea tensed up, her shoulders rigid.

"D-don't touch me," she jumped away from him, slapping his hands away forcefully. "I-I…" She turned away from him completely but still felt when he hopped off of the stool.

"Thea," he whispered soothingly, "I can explain everything if you just let me." He placed a hand on her shoulder again, spinning her around so she faced him. She looked down at his hand on hers, noting the contrast. It was like they were on two ends of the color wheel.

"I don't trust you," she said, noticing that there were people at the bars now openly staring as if they were an episode of some shitty soap opera.

William laughed darkly and said, "Of course you don't."

"I don't want to speak to you either," Thea said, trying to convince herself that it was true.

"Why are you mad at me?" William demanded.

"You want to know _why_?" Thea said darkly. She felt a hand on her shoulder, one that was warmer than William's and sighed. It was her brother.

"Are you bothering her?" Dave demanded, his tone accusing. Thea slumped into her brother's side. She had never noticed how stiff she was.

"No," Thea said easily, now more relaxed. "Technically, I went up to him first." Dave nodded, eyeing William cautiously.

"Who is he?" her brother asked. He ran a hand over his shaved head.

"I'm William Thorne," William said lazily. "I'm a friend of hers from school. And you're her brother. Dave, is it?" Her brother nodded slowly, looking back and forth between his sister and the taller man next to her.

"A friend from school?" Dave confirmed.

"Yup," Thea said quickly. She wasn't sure if she should lie to him or not, after all William was sitting at a bar and drinking beer.

"What happened?" Dave asked. "Why did you look mad?"

"A little lover's quarrel," William said, laughing. "It's all right now though. Right, love?" He was testing her. Jerk. The 28-year-old turned to his sister to confirm this statement. She shrugged and nodded to him. Dave nodded back, eyes hard. William watched this little brother-sister exchange with triumphant blue eyes.

"I think that we should go back to the table," her brother said in her ear. "Rachel was worried. She saw you hit him then she told me to get over here." He gestured to his girlfriend who was twirling a lock of auburn hair around her finger. She looked mad and ready to jump up and run towards them. Thea smiled at her and Rachel smiled back in relief.

"You go, I'll be there in a sec," Thea insisted. "I swear." Her brother looked reluctant to leave but when his little sister gave him a pleading look, he sighed heavily, looked at the ceiling, and then walked back to the table.

She turned back to William who was asking the bartender for another beer. "You had better be sober by the time I leave," Thea warned. "I have to speak to you and I'm not afraid to break your knee caps with my field hockey stick if you try anything funny." William nodded, his lips curving into a small smile, and planted a swift kiss on her cheek. "Don't drive." She sighed and headed back to her table.

"Sorry about that," Thea said calmly to Rachel. "William was annoyed because I hadn't answered any of his calls last night so he confronted me." _All __14 __of __them._

"Oh," Dave said to himself, stiffly, "it was _that_ guy…" He turned, looking as if he had just thought of something, to Thea who was taking a bite of a quesadilla that a waiter brought when she had been speaking with William. "So, you said he was a friend from school, but he was drinking. Fake ID?"

"No. He was a junior when I was a freshman," Thea lied smoothly. "He's in college now."

"An older man," Rachel said thoughtfully.

Thea began to think about it herself. Since she of little proof thought that he was a vampire, how much older was he? Was he newly changed? …No. Something about the way he spoke sometimes made her think that he hadn't yet adapted to the times and some of the slang words. Thea bit her lip.

"Yeah, but not by much." She smiled a secret little smile at her lie that curved her plump lips a little and chuckled knowingly to herself.


	21. Chapter 18

**I felt bad for finishing late last time so I updated sooner this time. And a happy birthday to my _friend_ Rosa (Dec. 18) and my _aunt_ Rosa who I call Titi (Dec. 19). Before you read, you must know that I don't own the rights to the song "Don't Stand So Close To Me" by The Police. I do own the rights to my iPod though. The iPod that doesn't contain this song, sadly.**

**Chapter 18**

**Thea**

"'Young teacher, the subject of schoolgirl fantasies. She wants him so badly, knows what she wants to be…' lalala… 'Don't stand, don't stand so, don't stand so close to me…'" She started to hum the song to herself because she didn't know all of the words.

Thea checked the cabinets... cereal, crackers, and popcorn. Perfect, she could call the girls and have a little movie night if they were free. She still had to tell them about Tina, Aaron's blonde, tennis-butt-having…lover? When she thought about that, her heart sank. Aaron cheated on her. Going for a blonde girl after joking around so many times about how much he loved Spanish girls. Lying bastard. She felt bad calling a dead person that but it was what he was.

When she left the restaurant after hugging her brother and Rachel goodbye, she was suddenly hit with a strong wave of sorrow, frustration, disgust with herself for never knowing she was cheated on. It took her a day for it to sink in. Not even a clue, he had always treated her amazingly.

Of course, he would go to a girl who put out, something that Thea had never done for him or any guy. Tina looked like she put out. She had walked to her car, trying not to fall to her knees as she felt her steps falter. Flinging herself against the car door and opening it, she realized that the note he left her finally made sense. _I__'__m __sorry,_ it said. _I __shouldn__'__t __have, __but __I __did __it __anyway. __I__'__m __sorry. __You__'__ll __understand __this __later __on__… __I__'__m __not __good __enough __for __you._

Thea shook herself once, making the thoughts go away briefly, took the popcorn out of the box, and stuck it in the microwave. She heard a faint noise, like a lock clicking, but dismissed it quickly. It was the cabinet shutting itself. There was a whoosh and a breeze moved her hair. Was the window in the kitchen always open? She closed it, shivering in her nightshirt. It wasn't late out but she was feeling lazy. She had changed into them an hour ago, because she didn't think that William would come. She waited an hour for him, got hungry, and ate the pickle from the burger that she ordered at Applebee's.

Her home-phone began to ring and she sighed heavily, running to get it in her ladybug slippers.

"Hello?" She checked the caller ID but it was an unknown caller. Weird. There was no sound from the other line, just breathing. "If you're one of those annoying guys who loves calling to freak girls like me out, well you have another thing coming. I can kick your butt…and if you're a little kid pranking me then I will tell whoever's watching over you." She clenched a fist and started to play absentmindedly with the strings of her shorts.

More breathing. There was a soft sound, like laughter so she hung up. She got calls like this all the time and it was so annoying.

Thea walked back to the kitchen, where the microwave was demanding her attention. She made the beeping stop but didn't take the popcorn out. Instead, she went into the fridge, took out a can of whipped cream, and sprayed some on her finger.

The phone rang again. It was an unknown number. Again. She answered the phone with the intention of yelling at whoever it was but what the person on the other line said, made her stop.

"Turn around," the soft voice said. William?

"Huh?" She turned around with the phone against her ear, her finger in her mouth and the can of whipped cream in her free hand. She took her finger out of her mouth with a _pop_ and sprayed more on her finger (and getting some on her cheek) when she saw nothing behind her.

She was just about to eat the whipped cream when she felt an arm around her waist. Thea jumped. The arm pulled her closer until she was yanked hard up against a chest; a pale arm around her waist was caging her. It was William, she could tell because he was wearing what she saw him wearing at Applebee's. She tried to squirm but his grip was tight.

"Let go of me," she squeaked, firm tone gone. He laughed and leaned down to lick the whipped cream off of her finger then her cheek. She shivered, but rolled her eyes at how forward he was being. She could smell the tang of alcohol on his breath, along with mint. "William, you're drunk." He licked his lips, getting the access whipped cream off of them. There was whipped cream on the corner of his mouth. Thea began to lean forward a little but then she snapped out of it. _Focus, __Thea._

"Don't you think that those shorts are a little too short for spring, Thea?" William asked. He reached down then ran a finger down her thigh. _He__'__s__drunk, __he__'__s__drunk, __he__'__s__drunk._

"Nya!" she yelped. If she had known that he was actually going to come over, she would have worn something else… "What are you doing here?"

"That was a cute little noise you made," he said, his voice breathy. "I want to make you do that again." He ran two fingers down her other tan thigh this time and Thea squeaked. William laughed, his breath cool against her neck. _He__'__s__drunk, __he__'__s__drunk, __he__'__s__drunk._

"Stop that! Y-you're drunk!"

"You smell wonderful," William whispered as he breathed in deep, his nose by her neck. It was in full view because Thea had her hair up in a ponytail. "Like vanilla." Thea thought back to the perfume she sprayed herself with before she walked out the door today. He placed his lips on her neck and nipped at it softly.

"How did you get in here?" Thea was trying to remain calm, but with William so close to her she might have a panic attack. He was still behind her, breathing in the smell of her skin. "This isn't _Twilight_, William. Most girls don't like it when guys sneak into their houses or watch them sleep. It's creepy. It was you opening the windows and stuff, wasn't it?"

William ignored her questions. "My dear Thea," he said against the soft skin of her neck, "this is more like _Twilight _than you know. You see, I'm a vampire."

_I __knew __it! _She turned her head to look at him and what she saw made her yelp and jump back in fear. William stood in front of her with his lips parted; his canines were long and ended in a needle-like point. They seemed to stab William's bottom lip.

Thea gasped and knew that she would make fun of herself for that later. "Fangs." She wanted to back away but inched closer instead. William eyed her warily, seeming to think that she would run away or scream. Instead, Thea reached out and with a long finger, poked his lip.

He laughed, nipping at her finger playfully. "You don't seem surprised," William said softly.

"I know what you did the night before I met you," Thea said softly. "I still have the scars." She ran her finger along them.

"I apologize for that," William said. "I didn't know you were anemic… If I had, I wouldn't have done it."

"The anemia isn't much of a big deal," Thea told him truthfully. "It never stopped me from doing anything before so why can't I feed a vampire and try-out for the track team all in the same day?" William shook his head. It wasn't funny. "Sorry. Touchy subject."

William shook his head again and rolled his electric blue eyes. "You are something else, Thea Vega."

"I know." She laughed heartily.

**XXxXx**

Thea yawned, tilting her head back and sighed, readjusting herself in William's lap. William was currently running his fingers through her hair, something that she never thought a guy could do with her thick, coarse curls. There was a bowl of popcorn on Thea's lap, the idea of her friends coming over quickly forgotten.

She was trying really hard to focus on the movie but William was so deliciously cold under her and her eyelids were getting heavy. Plus, who could focus when there was a guy with soothingly cold hands, colder than hers, gently holding her?

"Do you know what day it is?" she asked him. She could feel a slight nagging in the back of her mind, something that she should remember. She felt like her brother and Rachel were walking on eggshells as she ate lunch with them. Was there something she was forgetting? Something important?

"Not at the moment, no," William said into her hair.

"Okay," Thea mumbled. She leaned back and William fixed the blanket he had wrapped around her when the first started. They were on their second now. "Would you get mad at me if I called you Lestat?" she said drowsily.

"I would never respond to that." By the tone of his voice, she could tell that he was rolling his eyes. Thea reached up and patted his cheek gently.

"How about Edward?"

"Yes, I probably would get mad."

"Stefan?"

"Yes."

"…Damon?" He had to laugh. Her voice was so hopeful.

"Yes. I might let it slide though," he said, "because you're half-asleep." Thea giggled and William continued to run his fingers through her hair. Every once and a while one of his hands would slip down to caress the side of her neck. Thea sighed to herself; she was happy. Truly, truly happy.

"I never want to move," she told him. She made a sound similar to a purr and William groaned to himself. "Oops, sorry…" Earlier that night, William had told her that he hadn't fed before coming here.

"It's fine," he said easily. "It's not as bad as before."

"You never explained how you could drink and not get caught," Thea said. "Aren't you around the same age as me in human years?" William sighed, ran a hand through his hair instead of hers, and then continued to run his fingers through her hair.

"I'll tell you about that when you tell me about the girl who came over to your house yesterday."

"You mean Tina, the tennis-butt-having blonde beauty?" William chuckled, not sure what to say. Thea hesitated then spoke. "She was the girl that Aaron cheated on me with. I don't know for how long but it was a few months before he died." Tears stung her dark brown eyes. "She was beautiful, blonde, incredibly perky but not really personality-wise. I couldn't help but look at her and think, 'it makes sense'. All guys go for the perky blonde, right?" Tears were running down her face now and William turned her around in his lap so she was facing him.

"No, Thea," William said soothingly, "we don't all for the perky blonde." He kissed her softly. "I, for one, have never dated a blonde in my life. Only brunettes."

"Liar," Thea sniffled. She mumbled a few things in Spanish, crying into William's chest as he rubbed her back soothingly. Thea vaguely noticed that he did not try to take advantage of the position they were in when she was at her most vulnerable. Even when she was crying Aaron couldn't help himself, his hands would slip a little too far down her back or over her shoulders. If he were in William's place, Aaron would have patted her on the butt or something…

"Shhh, Thea, shhh… It's okay." She pressed her face against William's cool neck and he placed a kiss on her forehead. "Let it all out, sweetheart…" She sobbed, feeling a kind of angst that she hadn't felt since Aaron died. She felt broken again, and there was something still nagging the back of her mind. The date. What was the date?

"What date is it?" Thea hiccupped between sobs.

"April 15th," William said with ease. Thea gasped for the second time tonight.

"It's his birthday!"


	22. Chapter 19

Soooooooooo soorryyy I haven't posted in a while. My computer crashed and I lost EVERYTHING. I was so upset then I went on google documents and I saw that I uploaded this! So...weeeee! Read on. And thanks to everyone who commented and waited patiently for this chapter.

**Chapter 19**

**Thea & William**

"Hmm?" William asked politely.

"It's his birthday!" Thea said again. She felt a wave of guilt go through her and her breathing started to come in rasps. William made little shushing sounds and rubbed her back some more. It calmed her down, but only a little bit. "I have to… I have to…" She couldn't finish the sentence because she didn't know what to do… All she could do was jump off of William's lap and run upstairs to her room. Her phone was ringing.

She answered it as she changed, putting on a pair of sweatpants, planning to visit his grave again. "Lynne," she wailed. "I-I forgot!"

"I know, Thea," Lynne said softly. "It's okay. Chuck forgot too."

Thea took her keys off of her desk and slipped on a pair of black sneakers. "I'm horrible!" she said. "I feel like shit right now. I feel like he's looking down on me and crying."

There was a soft knock on the door and William said, "Thea?" She flung her shorts at the door, still drowning in guilt. How could she forget what today was? She had never forgotten his birthday, even when they weren't dating.

"Give me a minute," Thea said, trying to calm herself down. She flung herself on the bed and said to Lynne, "Where are you?" Spinning her keys around her index finger, she tried to calm herself down.

Aaron wasn't crying, and he wouldn't feel bad that she forgot his birthday. He forgot about her birthday once… At least she thought he did. Instead he planned a little birthday party. Thea started to cry louder. William knocked again and Thea was surprised that he didn't break down the door.

"Thea, it's okay. We all forgot. He wouldn't feel bad. At the hospital with Chuck. He woke up a while ago and got so worked up about the fact that it was Aaron's birthday that they had to sedate him. Do you want me to come over there or are you coming here?"

"I-I don't know…"

"I'm coming over there. See you in a few." Lynne hung up her cell phone. Thea sighed heavily. A minute later Katt, Hazel, and Brianna called, conference call. They were coming over too. A call from her mother and Jacob who were so, so sorry and on there way home now and was she sure she was okay. Call from her brothers and her father all sorry. She regarded them all with silent tears, insisting that she was fine. That they didn't have to come over, that her girls were coming to keep her company.

Thea left her room and walked down the stairs. William appeared at her side. They were a few feet apart and Thea felt the chill of the air more than she did when she was sitting in his lap. It made her shiver.

"Would you like for me to leave?" he asked. Thea shook her head. She took a step closer to him and he took two, holding his arms out to her. They looked so strong, so stable, and she fell into them easily. "It's okay." He rubbed her back, her shoulders, her tears away. "It's alright. I'm here."

"I can't believe that I forgot," she mumbled. William said nothing this time, only rubbing her back. The doorbell rang and William let her go to answer the door.

"Thea!" her friend chorused. They peaked around her at the tall form, which was resting his cool hand on the small of her back, and their mouths fell open. The only ones who didn't look at all surprised were Lynne and Katt. Brianna was trying hard not to squeal and Hazel was winking at Thea. She stared at them, not sure if she wanted to run up and hug them all or thump Brianna upside the head because she _was_ squealing.

Thea walked up to them, aware of William's quiet laughter behind her, and put her face close to Brianna's ear. "Squeal again and die." Brianna giggled instead, and Thea made a gun with her pointer finger and thumb then shot her. "Pew, pew," she said. Thea told them to come inside, could she get them something to drink? They all sat on the couch-Katt between Hazel and Brianna, who was next to Lynne-while William hung back, near the hall closet.

Thea flitted around inside the kitchen, focusing on the tasks in front of her instead of Aaron. How mad she was at him, how guilty she was for forgetting his birthday… Ugh, if she could, she would have slapped him then thrown herself into his arms.

"She's not crying anymore," Lynne said softly. They were all watching Thea as she whirled around the kitchen like a blur. What was she doing? Why wasn't she crying?

"I think it has something to do with the guy in the corner," Hazel said quietly. The girls on the couch all turned to look at William who was still leaning against the wall. It was done simultaneously, as if they were one unit. The look on William's face was one of pure innocence, of the _who me?_ nature.

"I'm guessing that you apologized to her," Katt said. He nodded. Katt's brown eyes focused on the wet patch on his shoulder that ran down to the rest of his chest. "She must have cried a lot." She did but he was glad that she didn't try to deal with this on her own. He wanted to help her through it.

"She's doing a lot better than the last time," Hazel said to the girls. William was curious. What were they talking about?

"The day after Aaron's funeral, it rained," Brianna explained.

"Thea sat out all day on the porch and wouldn't let anyone grab her," Lynne continued for her. "If we touched her, she would scream at the top of her lungs. The only reason she got up was because she had to go to the bathroom." William flinched because he could picture this and hear her screams. He had been there and he was the one who brought her inside the night after when she did it again. They all thought Jacob had been the one to do it but it was him.

Lynne looked at Thea then at the window, where the rain was just starting. In the kitchen, Thea was resting her elbows on the counter and breathing in and out. William wanted to grab her, plop her down on his lap, and kiss her tears away.

"She's probably going to try to go outside," Katt said. William nodded. He knew that she liked the smell of rain; she told him when they were sitting under the tree for the first time.

"You love her, don't you?" Lynne said. She ran a thin hand through her brown hair and smiled at him. Her brown eyes squinted behind her glasses, observing the way he watched her. "It's okay. I don't think you'll hurt her… If anything, she would probably hurt you." Everyone laughed at this. Thea packed a punch when she was pissed off.

"I do," William said quietly. "I would never leave her." Brianna squealed and the girls followed suit, whispering amongst themselves. They said things like, "This would make her so happy," "He had better not hurt her," or "She loves him too. I can tell."

William heard the back door slam shut. "She left," he informed them. "I'm going to get her." He pushed himself off of the wall and set his mouth into a straight line. Lynne shook her head and Katt and Brianna groaned. Hazel wolf-whistled.

"Go!" someone yelled.

He ran out the door at human speed because of the audience. Thea was already in her car and backing out of the driveway. _Can't let her get away. _Thea turned and drove down the street, speeding up as she looked in the rearview mirror and saw William chasing William jumped onto the hood of her car, she screamed and stomped on the brakes.

"Damn it to hell!" she shrieked, her voice going up a few octaves. "Moron!" She slapped the steering wheel forcefully. Once, twice, three times. She hung her head as William tapped on the window.

"Thea!" he said. "Let me in." Instead of unlocking the door, she rolled down the window. He was a vampire after all, the rain didn't get him sick. It only made him uncomfortable and wet. She growled at him, hands clamped around the steering wheel.

"You idiot!" Thea yelled. "Who the fuck jumps on cars while they're moving? Vampire or not that was the stupidest thing anyone has ever done!" Oh, she wanted to fight, did she?

"Well, you were the stupid one!" William said. "Going out in the rain and leaving your friends like that. You're only in a tank top! You could get pneumonia or hypothermia." He clenched his hands into fists and banged them against the hood of her car. It left a dent but he would fix it later.

Thea growled at him again. It wasn't his fucking problem if she wanted to freeze her ass off in her dumb black tank top and sweats. She wanted to visit her boyfriend and she was going to fucking do it! She didn't care how much it rained.

"Shove off!" Thea said. "If I want to get pneumonia then I can! You have no claim over me." _I wish you did, though._

"I don't need a claim on you to tell you that you can get sick," William hissed. His posture was stiff and his head was held high, as if he didn't need any kind of shield to protect him from the verbal assault. This was not lost on Thea, the fact that he wasn't afraid to argue with her. She liked it but was too pissed off to acknowledge it. He treated her like he was special but thought of her as an equal… Even if she was human.

She got out of the car, planning to walk around to his side, but realized that William was now right in front of her. He had his arms crossed over his chest and the sleeves of his shirt strainedagainst the muscles, now sticking to his wet skin. _No_, Thea scolded herself. _Don't notice that now. You're pissed off, you're angry, and you want to hit him. It doesn't matter how hot he looks when he's angry. _

"Get in the car, Thea. You're going to catch your death out here." William snarled the words through clenched teeth.

"I don't want to," Thea pouted petulantly as she mimicked his stance, feet planted firmly on the ground and arms crossed over her chest.

"Thea, get in the damn car and go home. Now!" He reached out to grab her arm and she slapped his hand away. _Ouch. _She rubbed her hand, now red, and grumbled under her breath.

"I will get in my fucking car," she told him calmly, "and I will go home but only because I'm getting cold… And because I need to put ice on my stupid hand." She got in the car, slammed the door, and turn up the heat. William stood outside, getting soaked, and didn't move until Thea revved the engine of her little VW. She backed up and ran over his foot. She hoped it hurt.

"Don't come over until you cool off," she commanded. William grunted but otherwise said nothing. Thea sped away, the rain now pelting her car like tiny bullets.

When Thea got back home, the girls had questions. Where did she go? What happened? Why did she look mad? Where was William? She answered all of them quietly. She went for a drive. She and William fought, that was why she was mad. William was going to cool off and wouldn't come back until he did.

"Aww," Brianna cooed. "Your first fight." Thea crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. She had changed clothes before and was now wearing her shorts again, with time with a sweatshirt on top.

"Ugh, stop. The first fight is pointless because we're not dating," she grumbled.

"Do you think he'll come back later?" Lynne asked. Thea shook her head. She sure as hell hoped he didn't bring his sorry ass back here.

"Nope. He's not."


End file.
